Jennifer said:
Just as I believe that it is the absolute obligation of every CBE to tell a pregnant woman about the dangers of medicalized birth, I also believe it is our obligation to educate about the dangers of AF. We need to be the ones who refuse to allow infant death to be an acceptable risk of being fed.

That is a delicate area because when Informed Choice advocates, who are employees of the Health Care Institutions, choose to speak out about the risks of artificial feeding or of medicalized birth you risk being singled-out as a "troublemaker" and being treated less than professionally (or at the first opportunity may even be fired).  If you're in private practice you risk not receiving referrals from the Health Care community.  Not right but it is reality.

As a CBE for a local hospital I do inform parents of the risks of medicalized birth and I haven't gotten fired (yet) but then I find that most women do what the Dr wants anyway...no matter what I tell them about the risks.  After all, parents are led to believe by their HCP "If you don't consent to that induction today your baby might die tomorrow" which is the worst possible outcome of all, so in parent's mind they'd much rather risk medicalized birth than "baby dying".    In regard to informing parents of the risks of artificial food for babies,  I can see those risks feeling great enough to parents that it would actually result in some behavior and attitude changes in parents (attitudes about formula and about their health care provider or facility who appears to promote it).  Negative attitudes among parents about formula and about them (because they promote it) is something  HCP's or facilities doesn't want (because they then might have to become educated on breastfeeding and to stop accepting money, free formula,  favors, etc  from formula companies) so I see the breastfeeding/formula issue being much more potentially volatile.  

How can this be overcome for those of us who feel it's only right that parents be informed?  That's why the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign holds promise because hopefully it will do what many of us are politically restricted from doing.

Sally Myer RN, BSN, ICCE, CLC 

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