Dear Friends:
 
I feel that it is a natural impulse to help new mothers. (This is a reason  
that getting rid of the formula discharge bags is so difficult, as staff want 
to  give things to new mothers.)
 
A new mother needs a lot to get her mothering started: a loving supportive  
environment, folks to do chores for a while (at least while milk supply is  
becoming established) so she can recover from birth and learn about her baby. As  
women, I bet it is in our DNA to tend and befriend the new mother. Without  
support, a new mother is at risk for awful things like premature weaning and  
postpartum depression.
 
Giving free breastfeeding help is part of what new mothers need; practical  
suggestions and encouragement have been redefined as support. Our instincts are 
 to help new mothers with breastfeeding because we (more than other health 
care  professionals) know that they need it.
 
This basic, life-supporting impulse collides into the relatively  recent need 
for reimbursement. How can these 2 different roads be  reconciled?
 
I don't know. My feeling is that each one of us will have to find our own  
balance, and that this balance probably changes during our own lives.
 
What do you all think?
 
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, BSN, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
craniosacral therapy  practitioner
_www.myspace.com/adonicalee  

_ (http://www.myspace.com/adonicalee) 



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