There no such thing as magic fairy dust. It's only in the fairy tales
and even there, there is usually an evil sorcerer or someone who can
disrupt the power of magic fairy dust.

Breast milk is not magic fairy dust because magic fairy dust doesn't
exist. Yes, even bf babies get sick sometimes, but it's still a lot
better than the alternative.

This also reminds me of Diane's "breastfeeding is normal." Normal
people get sick every so often (some more often than others for a host
of reasons) Normal babies get sick every so often, too, some more often
than others for a wide variety of reasons.

It is also true, and must be impressed on all of us and our clients
everywhere that individuals' history of illness has nothing to do with
statistics. Statistics only work for populations, not individuals. It's
hard to teach individuals or small groups by using statistics and then
tell those individuals and small groups that the only way we can teach
is by using statistics, but it doesn't really matter for them as
individuals. I struggle with how to teach that all the time. So far,
the best way I've come up with is that every time I quite a statistic,
I remind people that it's only a statistic and what that means. Humor
helps too. If anyone has thought of any other ways to use statistics
and disregard them at the same time, I'd love to hear about it.

Naomi Bar-Yam
--------------------------------
Naomi Bar-Yam Ph.D.
[log in to unmask]

Researcher, Writer, Educator
in Maternal and Child Health
--------------------------------

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