Hi All,

Coach Smith here, irritated enough to post tonight after lurking for many
weeks.

Whenever I hear "I wasn't breastfed, and I turned out OK," I want to scream!
I wasn't breastfed either. How one defines OK makes all the difference. My
mother smoked during pregnancy, probably drank alcohol too, was told to only
gain 10-15 pounds of weight during her pregnancy, and was told that good
mothers only feed their babies every 4 hours. She tried to breastfeed me as
instructed - one breast every 4 hours - but she didn't have enough milk. (Is
anyone surprised????) Am I OK now?  (Well, one could argue that either way!)

Think how dangerous I'd be now if I had an extra 5-10 IQ points to work
with! I might not have had to spend 3 miserable years in orthodontic braces,
I might not snore so badly, I might have had an easy time maintaining a
normal weight for my height, I probably would have had better gastric
function and fewer allergies, I could probably avoid spending big bucks for
ever-stronger bifocals every two years. And I might have avoided arthritis
that is beginning to inhibit movement in several joints.

My friend Carl Bromer says "The worst enemy of good technique is good luck."
Lots of us are lucky / healthy / smart DESPITE the decisions and behavior of
our parents. And just because we are alive and walking around, able to tell
our stories, surely doesn't justify treating the old ways as "just fine,"
now that we KNOW better!

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre www.bflrc.com
6540 Cedarview Ct., Dayton, OH 45459-1214 USA
(937) 438-9458 email [log in to unmask]

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