Gail here is more from t'other side of the Atlantic.

Crime #1  is where a mother sees a Health Visitor (HV) or General Practitioner
(GP) about her breastfed baby feeding a lot.  The HCP does not ask her any
questions to find out what is going on to get a picture of the situation.  The
stock solution is ABM.   Mother often has no idea about how breastfeeding
works.

Crime #2    Mother is seen by HCP because baby is not gaining weight
adequately.  No questions asked to find out what mum is doing -  give the baby
ABM.  No advice given on how to make more milk or how milk is made.  Mother
often has no idea of how breastfeeding works and so has no foundations on
which to go forward.

Crime#3    Mother goes to GP because baby has a cold and as an aside mentions
that baby is feeding a lot.  GP tells her the baby is hungry and should have
ABM.

Crime#4     Mother with blocked duct/mastitis goes to GP and is given
antibiotics.  No detective work on why it is happening or how to resolve it or
how to manage breastfeeding and how breastfeeding works.

Crime#5    Same mother as Crime#4 goes back after finishing the course of
antibiotics with another bout of mastitis and GP dolls out another dose of
antibiotics. - and yes, you've guessed it, it happens again, a third time and
so the story is repeated.  How many of us have known this mother?  She is the
one that goes back again and again until eventually and miraculously, things
turn out ok or tragically because of her poor care, pain and illness, she
stops breastfeeding and who could blame her?  Crime#5.5 this mother and baby
now get thrush and I can't even drag my fingers over the keyboard to go into
the scenario that follows !

Crime#6    Midwives/Health Visitors taking the 'Breastfeeding Talk' at
National Health antenatal classes when : they have no training in adult
education;  they don't keep themselves up-to-date by reading bfg literature;
they don't go to study days/courses on bfg; they don't have a plan/outline of
what should be covered in the talk; their employers have no quality control
for class content and thus no idea of what is taught; there is no ongoing
assessment of the sessions/teacher.

I personally feel that women in the UK are cheated by the NHS in all aspects
of antenatal classes, quality control is nil and this is unacceptable.  We pay
by tax for the NHS and we are shortchanged.   If you had to pay cash for NHS
antenatal classes you would demand your money back.  Because we pay indirectly
by tax we think we are getting the classes 'free' and so complaining would
make you seem 'ungrateful'. AAARRGGGG.

Crime#7  I concur with Heather <<Actually, the biggest bf 'crime'  is  (as
happens in the UK health system) telling mothers about the health benefits
(which is done here more often now than ever - good), saying how great
breastfeeding is, how wonderful they are to choose it, how close it brings
them to their baby.....and then totally messing up and possibly destroying
the experience with poor information and an excess of intervention.>>

Helen Woodman, National Childbirth Trust Bfg Counsellor, Storrington, West
Sussex, UK.