Like Liz Brooks, I am not sure what was the best thing about the VELB
conference in Vienna, the conference sessions, the city it was held in, or
the breaks when I got to put faces to a lot more names from this list.  I
could add one more great thing, and that was sharing a small, bare-bones
hotel room with two friends for four nights: our laugh muscles are still
recovering, I think, and we are ready to room together again.  Perhaps the
most momentous thing for me was getting to meet Jean Cotterman in person,
because the simple technique she has described for displacing edema fluid
under the nipple/areola so a baby can latch, is a tool that I use many many
times every week, and I am consciously grateful to her for sharing it, every
single time.

I do know what was the very worst thing about the conference for me. It was
that I was ashamed of several other attendees from my country of residence,
because none of the ones who were involved in the new version of the film
'Breast is Best', managed to prevent Jean's work (on postpartum breast
edema) from being presented in it without any mention whatsoever that it is,
indeed, her work, as described in numerous published articles in print and
on line, over the last decade or so.  It was especially painful to me since
Jean herself was present, and had to endure the screening of the film for
anyone who wanted to see it, in the largest auditorium at the venue, and she
is so gracious that she did not, as far as I know, mention it to the people
who were involved.  They could have taken the opportunity to honor her
publicly.  Instead, they said nothing at all.

I've discussed this with a couple of the people behind the film earlier. 
After much mulling it over, I have decided to send this post, because their
responses were not at all satisfactory, and showed a disregard for the
notion of giving credit where credit is due.  Jean is a subscriber here, and
I want it on record on Lactnet that at least one person in Norway knows who
first distinguished between edema and milk engorgement and presented a
manual technique for enabling breastfeeding despite severe edema.  

I have had nothing to do with this new version of the film.  I translated
the first version into English about fifteen years ago, (back when we were
still saying 'breast is best'!) and people who know me might think I was
involved now too; I most certainly was not.  Please, if you happen to see
the film, know that I did what I could to get its makers to acknowledge
Jean, but was unsuccessful. 

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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