>
>
>Any suggestions for non-confrontational, non-adversarial ways to dialogue
>with the offending parties, without my simply being simply taken off of
>their literature and referal and call lists? If these mothers don't call
>me, or the other community base, private practice IBCLC, or a LLL leader in
>the area, these mothers will never get the help they need.
>
Call me naive, but I always assume that these people are not being
adversarial for its own sake, that they have come to some logical but
incomplete conclusions after doing insufficient research or interpreting
their experiences differently. For me, everything is a potential
teaching moment. I hope I won't grow out of it when my kids are grown
up, when I have no further grounds for my own learning except my
continuing ignorance on a number of matters.

I would suggest having regular meetings of those involved in the
breastfeeding community. Form a study group, service committee,
professional support group, etc. These are opportunities to get to know
each other and develop a rapport so that misunderstandings are
prevented. At that point, misleading (inaccurate!) suggestions can be
discussed without defensiveness being such a grave obstacle to pedagogy.

As well, the meetings can be used as opportunities for "enrichment" or
"inservice". You can share your expertise, and ask others to prepare a
short introduction to a discussion topic. Or people can do a little more
preparation and obtain CERPs.  "Proper use of shields and nipples" would
be a good topic to start with.

I would approach this by saying, "I'd like to have an opportunity to get
together regularly. There is so much to be learned in the field. What
if..." There is no deception there; there is a lot to learn, and we
don't *really* need to get into a discussion of who has more to learn,
as long as we can solve the problem which is a lack of knowledge.

Jo-Anne Elder-Gomes, IBCLC, committee junkie about to go into recovery

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