I am a student RN, a LLL Leader, and also an IBCLC.

I have Maternal/Child this quarter. I have been in this area for a number of years, in fact long enough to have had my instructor as a pre-IBCLC who had to attend a series of LLL Meetings to get her IBCLC! (She is no longer certified as an IBCLC, so it's been quite a few years ago.)

My first issue was when they handed out the syllabus, and on the cover is a picture of a newborn with a large bottle in its face. When I told the instructor I was disappointed by this, she told me, "Everyone has their own opinion!"

Yesterday, the instructor did a poll of the class. How many of us were mothers? How many had cesareans? How many had vaginal births? How many of us breastfed? She went on to tell us that she used to be certified as a LC, and she is still very much pro-breastfeeding. She then went on to tell us that we all have our opinions, and although she was pro-breastfeeding, she had to give us "balanced information" about feeding babies.

All I can say is, it is not about opinion. It makes no difference what her opinion, or my opinion, or anyone else's opinion is, for that matter. The attitude of the nurse, however, makes a tremendous difference.

We have 37 female student nurses in our class. If each of us goes out into the clinical, and then real, world with our own opinions of how babies are fed, 25 nurses will not have breastfed and will think the two are equal. 11 nurses will have breastfed their babies for less than 6 weeks, and depending upon their experience, will either think it's important or not, but recommend it end by 6 weeks based on their experience. 1 will have breastfed her children for over 4 years each, but is considered to be biased.

The facts are, the AAP recommends breastfeeding at least 1 year, the WHO recommends breastfeeding for at least 2 years. The Healthy People 2010 is aiming for 75% breastfeeding at birth, 50% at 6 months and 25% at 1 year.

If nearly 40 nurses graduate in June with the attitude that "it's my opinion" about breastfeeding, how do the newborns stand a chance?

In my opinion, if we promote the abnormal, the abnormal becomes the normal, and the normal becomes abnormal.

Best wishes from someone who is practicing sitting on her hands!
Sam Doak

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