Catherine Watson Genna's and Tina Smillie's experiences are not unique - you
say something to a group you would like to think could process the
information, and then you hear later how your words were recieved - out of
context, fragmented and used to argue for the very thing you were opposing
in your talk.  (like dogmatic approaches to the use of anything at all!)
I once heard Kerstin Hedberg-Nyquist speak to a group of experienced health
professionals who work with mothers and babies, and she mentioned, in
passing, the research showing the circumstances in which nipple shields were
useful in helping certain premature babies take milk at the breast.  At the
same conference, I went through the basics of caring for a baby who is
reluctant to latch in the first 1-3 days of life, which involves lots of
close observation, time skin-to-skin, learning hand expression, and on and
on, but according to my book does not involve force-feeding the healthy,
term newborn.  Responses from the attendees included 'So, I'm really glad to
know shields are OK now,' and 'Do you really mean it's all right for us to
*just do nothing* with a baby who doesn't eat for 3 days?'  Both of these
questions came from people who work with normal healthy mothers and babies.
It's always a comfort that you have handed out copies of the text of your
slides as these often can be used to show that that *wasn't* exactly the
message you were trying to convey.  Some people are only listening for their
own buzzwords, and you will never reach them with the rest of the material.
I can only hope they are in a very marginal minority.  The odd part is how
seldom MOTHERS get it wrong; it's mainly our colleagues who seem to be have
trouble.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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