I appreciate the replies and validation--Maybe I am not a fanatic after all.

When I started private practice, I thought I would need pumps for the problems.  That is true, but most of my Medela Tell You phone calls start with:   "Do you rent breastpumps?"  Then, as I enquire about the age of baby, reason for pump, etc., I  discover, as Jennifer commented, that the moms are self-diagnosing and prescribing, assuming that breastfeeding is never going to work, but not wanting to lose the milk.  They are very surprised when I explain that I can help them ACTUALLY, not VIRTUALLY, breastfeed!  Sometimes we don't even need the pump at all!  
Where are they getting this pump fever, when they are so unknowledgeable about breastfeeding?  Everybody seems to be an expert on pumping and knows someone who pumped for "four months because she just couldn't BF".  There is definitely some kind of expectation that, oh well, I can always pump if it doesn't work--they are ready to quit before they have begun!

We must need to put more effort into "marketing"  the joys of breastfeeding, not just the tools and techniques.  Apparently that is being done quite well for us.  Sometimes I even think that my white lab coat at the hospital is a message that "I am here to fix you and your baby because you are broken."  It is always difficult to sell a concept that is non-tangible and needs to be experienced by the person themselves--much easier to sell products and "hardware."  

I really want to find ways to monitor the messages I give, verbally and non-verbally, especially in a hospital setting.  The medical model does not apply to breastfeeding a healthy baby.
I knew something didn't feel right, but I was getting sucked in, trying to give them what they want, when instead they need to understand that sometimes "less IS more."   (sorry, no pun intended)

Paradigm shift needed.

Thanks,
Patricia Ellis, RN, MA, IBCLC

"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

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