Agendas are interesting- don't we all have them? Aren't they based in what
we believe to be true? Where does the spilt occur between the agenda of a
professional and educating a mother about what her baby needs? Isn't what
the professional believes to be what the baby needs the professional's
agenda?

Here's my agenda. I find it incredibly sad that so many women go back to
work very soon after their child is born and place their child in group
child care. The research shows that a child placed in such care in the first
year of life had a dramatically higher risk of having an insecure attachment
with their mother. The research also shows that the quality of the
relationship with the mother in the first year of the child's life has a
profound influence on the quality of future relationships and other areas of
life. However, what is even sadder is that though the research shows this,
professionals of various types who deal with mothers do not tell them this-
for the same reason that many HCPs do not talk about breastfeeding- don't
make women feel guilty, don't want to be seen as a fanatical zealot? In the
US anyway, it also seems that government does not wish to support families
and the healthy growth of children, they are willing to pay the costs later
in terms of dysfunctional relationships, increased anti-social behaviour
etc. My belief that babies need their mothers more than anything (including
breastmilk) is based in research but in speaking of this my agenda would be
perceived as being to keep women out of the workforce and at home. Any
insights on the agenda/belief of needs of the baby?

Karleen Gribble
Australia
(who had a welcome home party for her daughter today and is relieved- made 9
pavlovas and 160 custard tarts for it yesterday! but has a house full of
mess to demolish )

 Since all over the planet so many mothers must,
> or feel they must, or want to return to their careers, our job as LCs is
to
> advocate for the right of the baby to continue to breastfeed. I see some
of
> the anti-bottle propaganda in the US as a not-so-subtle effort to control
> behavior in favor of attachment parenting.  (This is not a criticism of
AP,
> which I practiced myself when my kids were young.  It is to say that my
job
> as an LC is not to promote my agenda, but to help the mother achieve HER
> goals while trying to gently educate her about the needs of the baby.

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