Barbara wrote:
"Certainly when I see a client, part of what I feel obligated to do is
explain why I think the baby can't nurse, or why there is no milk.
Sometimes these are rather complicated explanations.  When I am clear and
take the time to teach,  parents are so much more willing to be on board
with the plan (which is likely to be a pain).  Or they understand enough
about what it will take that they decide not to go forward.  That is their
choice. But choice isn't informed if information is censored or withheld out
of some sense that sharing it is too time consuming, or that some externally
imposed judgement of the parents renders them unfit to hear it."

Barbara,
I agree with this completely. When I began the Peer Counselor Program that I ran for 4 years, I was warned that I would not find poor women as trainees who had bf for at least a year. I was also expected to teach the counselors only very basic information and encourage them to provide primarily emotional support for the moms. Instead, I trained them to solve almost any  bf problems and taught them the science behind breastfeeding (as we knew it then). They were then able to share this kind of information with their own clients, which I believe is one reason our program was so successful.

I think that familes can feel more secure that their choices are aligned with their own priorities, values and world-view when they are given full and accurate info. The other benefit is that it is so much easier for us as the LC to be detached from the outcome, b/c we know the parents really did choose.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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