I think that you handled the situation with the Downs syndrome baby in a
lovely way.

About 18 months ago, a former co-worker of mine gave birth to a baby and was
told that it had a rare genetic disorder that would cause severe
developmental delays and other health problems. She was told that these
babies almost always have feeding difficulties and that she would probably
not be able to breastfeed. Well, she called me anyway, and when I went over
to help, I realized I knew nothing about the syndrome (and now can't even
remember the name). So we just dealt with him as I would with any baby and
we got him nursing. I remember that it made her very happy that I treated
him as a baby, not as a tragedy or terrible problem.

She nursed him for over a year, until she went back to work. He has done
incredibly well. At his one year check-up, the doctor sent him back to be
re-checked - and guess what -  now they've decided he doesn't have the
syndrome after all. She is so glad she breastfed.

My point here is not to let a diagnosis or label define the baby, but just
to do what we can to help each mother and each baby as they are.

Teresa Pitman
LLL Leader, Oakville, Ontario