"One article in Pediatrics and all the babies are getting formula.  Dozens
of articles on the benefits of breastfeeding do nothing."

AARRGGHH again! But why is that? I know we discuss this again and again and
again here. But if we could get to the root(s) of this, perhaps we could
change the outcome.

Does it have something to do with the fact that BFing involves babies -
something every living person has experience with being - and therefore is
so intimate that to try to effect change is almost taboo? Cardiologists, for
example, or oncologists, adjust their practice to new information as it
becomes available. Now we know that it *isn't* that peds care any less about
the well-being of their patients, and it isn't (entirely, anyway, as there's
plenty of good info available in professional journals) lack of
education/data/information. So it must be something less tangible, and
something less amenable to change - i.e. something that gets embedded very
deeply & personally. And they (we, more accurately) must have some kind of
stake in the attitudes that prevent ready adoption of new information in
this area.

Maybe it's as simple as this: breastfeding isn't essentially in the realm of
"pediatric medicine", and we (as a culture) are in error to expect much from
physicians in this department. But somehow it's gotten added to "their"
territory, so we keep bumbling on expecting doctors to be experts. Giving
them that power, and expecting them to keep up the obligation accompanying
that power to be knowledgeable and up-to-date and research-based (as opposed
to just acting on what they think or feel). Even so, it doesn't seem
unreasonable to expect your baby's doctor to be at least current on the
recommendations - esp. those of their own professional body!

Well, aarrgghh! again!

Cathy Bargar RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY

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