I think some of my comments may have been misconstrued; I am not interested
in doing an assembly line job.  I am not out just to fix problems; I consider
one of my great strengths the ability to establish rapport and "reach" these
women on other levels aside from "how much did he take from the SNS on
Thursday?"

I have read and highly value the points made in the posts about equipment.  I
think, actually, we all agree on many of these points.  But I think that
technology and non-technology can happily coexist, and I do not share the
opinion that technology is a bad thing, or a non-advancement.  I just don't.
I know that I would not have as many "success" cases (if that's an
appropriate term) if I didn't have access to equipment.

I think many of us are drawn to this profession because this is a profound
time in the lives of women; I know that this is why I have done a career
switch.  I, too, bemoan the loss of many things in our culture:
breastfeeding as a normal behavior, widespread confidence in the ability to
provide enough milk for one's baby, trust that co-sleeping is safe and
beneficial---I could go on and on.  But I do see my *primary* job as
isolating the lactation "problem" and providing steps to help a woman solve
that problem; I consider one of my strongest skills the ability to discern
what each woman can take on in her life, what her support systems are, etc.
But I must admit that I don't do much in the way of convincing women they
should feel some way other than they do (unless, obviously, the information
she has received is inaccurate or harmful to her or the baby).  In the case
of hand-expression, for example, if a woman were to tell me that it just
makes her feel weird to squeeze milk out of her breast, and that she would
prefer to pump, I would consider any comment stronger than, "Women have used
hand expression for years and many find it quite rewarding" to be
inappropriate.  Maybe that's me.  I'm not cold and clinical, I just weigh the
risks of undermining my own authority with the supposed benefits of getting a
political message out there.

I guess I began the post responding to Chonyi but have finished it by
addressing Valerie's points.  I am new to this field and find this sort of
discourse to be stimulating, and I am in no way beyond learning a thing or
two ;-)  As I said before, I usually lurk, but felt compelled to throw in my
opinion about equipment.  I think, too, that we must be very careful about
differentiating between politics and specific problems.  I am here because of
the former, but have chosen to empower women by helping them get over their
own particular hurdles.  If they never realize what a powerful thing they
have done, then at least I've helped one more child get breastmilk, even when
it is, occasionally, pumped with an electric pump, and given in a plastic
bottle!

Heather Kelly, MA

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