Rachel writes:

>
>The flip side of this attitude is the emotional strength with which staff
>defend their positions in regard to breastfeeding.


<snip>

>   It wasn't until the
>day one of my colleagues started yelling at me 'You think it's all so easy,
>well it's NOT, and I breastfed for a MONTH and never had more than an ounce
>of milk, and it was REALLY HARD...' and then started to cry, that I came to
>my current realization.  What made it all the more convincing was that the
>baby she breastfed is now a man of 40, she is retired, and recalling her
>experience can still reduce her to a quivering mass.  Do we need stronger
>arguments for why women deserve good help to succeed at breastfeeding?
>Wouldn't the world be better without all this anguish?
>


I know...just as we have compassion for mothers who wanted to bf, and
didn't, and suffer for it, we should have the same compassion for
professionals who are in the same boat....and I do, I do.

I was lecturing medics earlier this year, a very formal situation,
with serried ranks of paediatricians and general practitioners in
front of me.  One of the doctors (female) started to ask about her
own experience (of some years before) and she had had a terrible
time, with really dreadful support....and she started to cry, unable
to continue. Horrible for her, and her colleagues were embarrassed, I
think, but it was a *great lesson* for them in showing how much
getting it right matters so very much. (I tried to catch up with her
after the lecture but she had hurried away...I would have offered a
chance to talk).

Yes, there needs to be a way of dealing with that anguish, instead of
it getting in the way of mothers' right to good information and
support.

However, I do think mothers themselves can't wait until everyone has
debriefed their own experience (in the way volunteer groups ensure
happens to their own trainees) - not that I think you were suggesting
that, R.

Alongside any training and in-service training that allows the
opportunity for a real exchange of personal experiences , the rules
have to change so systems are in place to uphold bf....in themselves,
decent supportive systems which lead to joyful, rewarding bf create
a new learning  environment for  professionals. It can lead to a
deeper understanding of why it all went pear-shaped for them.

And that has to be a good thing.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bf counsellor Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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