This bothers me - the idea that breastfeeding is "alternative medicine". Gee whiz. Like eating real food is an alternative diet whereas having a can of ensure and a handful of vitamins is the real deal. This is really getting to me. Where are all the dietician/nutritionists, etc. out there? There are definitely "alternative" nutritionists who push herbal supplements over real food here in the USA and say that real food is just not good enough because -- fill in the blank (you don't eat the right kinds of food so your milk isn't any good). Is anyone else out there as incensed by this ridiculous notion? I can understand if you have a physical problem that prevents digestion so you have to eat unusually to accommodate it (or you might die). Where is the common sense? It makes sense to change things when death is the alternative, but. To me, any other reason is ridiculous and just a product of easy times. ------Mmmmm, Jane, I think you are jumping to conclusions here. Medical practice is not the same everywhere around the world. The discussion is not about the product (breastfeeding) IBCLC's work with. The discussion is about the rules, guidelines, regulations etc. *in my country*. To be an official medical profession in my country, you need to have a certain education, which is validated by Dutch medical standards. The IBCLC's don't have that. You need a diploma that is internationally recognized, the IBCLC's don't have that. Yes - it's recognized by the ILCA, but not by external medical standards in the Netherlands. And you need to have a job-profile and the making and registration of that costs lots of money. As long as you don't have these things, you are seen as "alternative" and to the IBCLC's that is not something they are very worried about (I think). Lot of insurances pay LC-consultation anyhow. To patients the risk is larger: they have no possibility to complain if things don't work out well. Lydia, LLL, Netherlands ~~~ The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. - Voltaire~~ *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome