Dear Barbara and Mary: Honestly, I must say that I hope this is the sign of open, intellectual discourse that we are having. Surely, Barbara, you have a good friend in Mary and I have not had the pleasure of working with either of you directly. It was only after I received 4 private emails asking if I was disturbed by "Barbara's targeted implications" (not my words) about herbs and shields that I decided to respond both to her personally and to LN. So, perhaps, I allowed myself to be sucked in. Clearly, there is much to be discussed within these topics given the responses privately and publicly. My intent in replying was not to spear or flame anyone, but defend "a" position (not solely my position). I truly believe that we, as IBCLCs, need to support each other and enhance each other's knowledge base by sharing information. Thanks for all the wisdom you do share with us. Warmly, Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC [log in to unmask] mom, wife, educator, lactation consultant, researcher, author, organic gardener, photographer, lapidary creator, lousy cleaner. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html