Dear Jean,

You are so right.  I was one of those independent childbirth educators put out of business by hospital based classes.  That was the beginning of the downhill slide, as I see it.  Beautiful birthing suites, but very medicalized birthing practices.  The ironic thing is that so many of us were once advocating for short hospital stays, but that too has morphed into something quite different from what we envisioned and has impacted breastfeeding in a negative way, I think, in many instances.  We now have LCs in many hospitals, but in the great majority of cases they must also be RNs and the time that they have available to help moms is very limited.  So hospitals can say that they have family-centered childbirth with readily available lactation help, but what does that really mean?  And most of the moms are quite happy with all of this, so where is the impetus for change going to come from?  When they get finished bioengineering formula to be "just like breastmilk" and the studies begin to show less and less difference in outcomes between breastfed and formula fed babies............      Sorry to be so pessimistic, but this is where I see things headed.  It is a good thing that most of us are a staunch lot, for I think there is not much smooth sailing ahead.


Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
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