The stories about absurd advice from medical professionals reminded me of an incident involving a good friend of mine.  She has a pediatrician who was actively anti-breastfeeding & used each "well-baby" appointment to try & convince her to give it up as a dangerous practice.  He almost had her convinced after one visit showed that the baby's head circumference had decreased by 2 cm.  He stated that the baby's brain was shrinking as she had breastfed exclusively for altogether too long (6 months) & that the baby would have a low IQ as a result.  Previously, at 4 months, he had tried to convince her that the baby was becoming "morbidly obese" since she had "breastfed for so long".  Thankfully, she called up & with a brief visit with a tape measure, I was able to show that it was just an error on the part of the office staff that showed the head was smaller.  She continued nursing past one year & just let the MD assume she had weaned.  Due to the area she lived in & her insurance policy, she had no other choices for healthcare for her child that she could afford & was afraid to alienate him further.  Linda Madsen RN,IBCLC

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