Oliver Sacks, born in London in 1933, is a neurologist and author, as well
as the son of two physicians.
From page 237 of the book 'Uncle Tungsten', which is Sacks' autobiography of
his early years:
'My mother was an intensely shy woman who could hardly bear social occasions
and would retreat into silence, or her own thoughts, when forced into them.
But there was another side to her character, and she could become expansive,
exuberant, a ham, a performer, when she was at ease, with her students.
Many years later, when I took my first book to an editor at Faber's, she
said, "You know, we've met before."
"I don't think I remember," I said, embarrassed. "I can never recognize
faces."
"You wouldn't," she rejoined. "It was many years ago, when I was a student
of your mother's. She was lecturing on breastfeeding that day, and after a
few minutes she suddenly broke off, saying, "There's nothing too difficult
or embarrassing about breastfeeding." She bent down and retrieved a small
baby which had been sleeping, concealed behind her desk, and, unwrapping the
infant, breastfed it before the class.  It was in September 1933, and you
were the infant."

Nice, huh?

One of the best lectures I ever had in nursing school was on breastfeeding,
given by a GP who was the mother of several breastfed children. It was in
1978 or 79 at U of Washington in a course on nutrition.  She was inspiring,
committed, and had a huge repertoire of tricks of the trade.  She was
probably in LLL but I don't remember.  I do remember she was a physician.
And where I am now, all the physicians I work with who have children, have
breastfed children.  Though they still lack the knowledge to be able to
guide mothers with BF problems, they do have more trust in the process and
less harmful baggage about it.  The best part is the change I have seen in
the past year: both obstetricians and pediatricians now come to me with
questions about breastfeeding problems, refer cases to me for an opinion,
ask for my input about medications in BF mothers - in short, they recognize
my competence.  It makes work a lot more fun.
Rachel Myr
whose DENTIST even phoned a few months back when he became a grandfather for
the first time, to check that the info his daughter had gotten about her BF
problem, was correct!

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