"I'll never forget my first ILCA conference when I had my 15 month old son with me.  I sat down at lunch and breastfed him at the same time.  The table became quiet and finally one woman told me quietly that there was some milk available over at the drinks table.  For a moment I panicked and thought I was in the wrong luncheon!" 

I gasped aloud when I read this.  This little guy was only halfway through a *minimum* normal breastfeeding duration and we're taken aback??  This is precisely why we need La Leche League.  Our own profession seems to be more and more about getting a superior liquid into tiny tummies, and less and less about supporting mothers and children in achieving and maintaining a warm, wonderful, normal, years-long breastfeeding relationship.  That change scares me more than any Scope of Practice.  Mother-to-mother support groups have always understood and honored the relationship.  What will breastfeeding cultures think of us "lactation consultants" if we fail to do the same?    And how will we ever become such a culture ourselves?

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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