Dearest Lactnetters all:

We share our woes, our defeats and our down days. But there are wonderful
successes happening too!  Many of you make dramatic, charismatic and
information-chocked-full presentations to other medical
professionales...not to mention all the moms that we collectively help. Not
too bad, guys!

Here's some exciting news from my home town of Merida, Yucatan Mexico:

1) Last week the governor named as State-wide Coordinator for all Health
Services (sort of like the head of the State Health Dept. in the U.S. I
suppose) Dr. Ivan Aguilar - one of the most pro-BF pediatricians to walk
the face of the earth.
As the director of the largest government medical center in southeast
Mexico (a tertiary level hosp) he was instrumental in getting his
institution UNICEF certified as a Baby-Friendly Hospital. Need I say more?

2) The city government's health officer is also a very pro-BF ped...such a
sweet man, who takes polaroid snapshots of the babies right after birth in
the delivery room, and hands the photo to the mother as she is wheeled to
her room saying: "Here's a picture of your new baby...look at it so your
milk will start to come in."  Have you ever heard of such a tender thing to
do?

Tell me we're not going to give the formula companies a run for their money
with all these pro-BF guys in high places?

Here's "exciting news" # 3....at least for me personally.

At one of private hospitals I ran into the head ob/gyn  (there are 7 ob's
at this hosp) who asked where the heck had I been hiding myself for the
past 3 months? He invited me to a cup a coffee in the cafeteria...(loves to
practice his English with me :-)  He listened, amazed and impressed, as I
told him about ILCA, my IBLCE exam, the hospitals I had visited in the
U.S., the slides, videos, textbooks etc. that I have brought back with
me....he even helped me figure out how to translate IBCLC into Spanish so
people will know what those famous letters stand for. (Certificada por el
Consejo International de Asesoras de Lactancia)  (any input on if you think
this translation is satisfactory is welcome)

Then he said, and I quote: "Roberta, what do we ob's know about Lactation?
Practically nothing!  You are the expert. Why don't you start giving
pre-natal classes to my patients? How do you work? Can you set up something
that all of us here can send our patients too?"

As Fred Flintstone used to say...Yaba Daba Doo!

Today the local Natural Childbirth Center, where I've taught BF to the
pregnant moms for the past 16 yrs., offered me the use of their building
for the course that I will be offering soon. This is perfect since it is a
*neutral* location. There is a lot of competition between the private
hospitals and if you give a class at one, the docs at the others won't have
anything to do with you. I plan to give 3 2hr. classes....to a minimum of 3
couples ...and probably a max of 5 (to keep the size intimate) .

Marie Davis has already sent me an outline of one of the course she teaches
to professionals...it is great. Anyone else out there with ideas on
structure, what to include, exclude, etc. please e-mail me directly.

I am so overflowing with new info. and enthusiasm that I am afraid of
giving everyone too much...which would bring on a good case of "BF
Indigestion"
And we know that no-one should get indigestion from BF, right?

Signing off happily ensconced in Baby-Friendly Heaven.....:-)

Roberta