While I agree that 3 years is a ridiculous sentence
and that the charge itself could have been more
appropriate to the crime itself- I do not agree that
this is inherently a breastfeeding issue and I do not
feel compelled to right letters and I do not agree
that breastfeeding activists everywhere should unite
behind this nurse.

All Barb Strange's comments on the case itself are
interesting and thought provoking and I certainly
agree that probably most of the attitudes reflected in
the comments of those involved directly in the case
and certainly some of the quotes were
negative/disrespectful toward breastfeeding itself-
However- its the act of breastfeeding someone elses
child against the mother's wishes that is specifically
being dealt with here.

There is another discussion on this board about
respecting the dominate cultures "norms" and I think
this is the main issue.  

This case is about putting a stanger's child to the
breast.  This nurse, whatever her nationality, should
have known better and used extremely poor judgment and
should be held accountable.  I do not see her as
someone breastfeeding advocates should waste our time
and energy to rally around.  I would rather spend time
promoting breastfeeding by rallying around a mom asked
to breastfeed her newborn in the restroom at (insert
restaurant/superstore) and I feel this is where our
efforts and energies would be more valuable:  
Promoting the "norm" which is a mother nursing her own
child.  
Promoting/Defending a nurse that put a strangers baby
to her breast?  This weakens our cause in general by
inciting further negative attitudes toward
breastfeeding by focusing on a "non-norm."   

It is certainly interesting to consider what- if ANY-
reaction there would have been by her coworkers if the
 ER nurse had formula fed a breastfed infant without
the mother's consent during its visit to the ER.

Mary Herrington RN
St Luke's CMC, The Woodlands










__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html