Dear Lactnet Friends:

Maire has spoken well, from her heart and her experience about
breastfeeding. All the first IBCLCs were LLL leaders; now it is nurses, at
least in the US.

This paragraph of hers in particular: "I am happy that there is a lot more
research now detailing the miracles of breastmilk and breastfeeding. But I
am sad how many of them are being interpreted to create rigid protocols and
flowcharts that don't take into account the richness and wisdom of the
individual mothers and babies, and the many cultures - of all different
backgrounds, including European. Many times I see these lead to unnecessary
interventions, and/or unnecessary anxiety for families who believe they
must do things a certain way. I also see it lead to moms and babies that
fall through the cracks and are not given the attention they really need
because they technically hit all the checkboxes in the assessments, but
were not actually in a good place and needed more help."

 A LC-run support group in a clinic or hospital room is NOTHING like a
mother-to-mother or parent-to-parent group in someone's living room.

At the same time, we must celebrate and recognize that breastfeeding rates
in the US are much much higher than they were for most of the 20th century.
Breastfeeding is spoken about now far more than it was then. Laws have been
passed that support breastfeeding.  BabyFriendly hospitals work.

The medicalization of breastfeeding  goes along with the increasing numbers
of mothers with chronic disease. The vast majority of mothers I worked with
in the 20th century were healthy. This Danish study speaks to that:
"Chronic diseases are increasingly prevalent among pregnant women over the
past several decades, and currently affect 10–20% of mothers."  (Jølving
LR, Nielsen J, Kesmodel US, Nielsen RG, Beck-Nielsen SS, Nørgård BM.
Prevalence of maternal chronic diseases during pregnancy - a nationwide
population based study from 1989 to 2013. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2016
Nov;95(11):1295-1304}  Last century, when I began my career,  I rarely
encountered diabetes, heart or kidney disease, hypertension, asthma,
fertility technology or obesity in my clients. Now, such is commonplace.
(Another topic for discussion.)

Back in the early part of this century, a colleague of mine interviewed for
a volunteer job as liaison between Joint Commission and ILCA.  She was
floored by the ILCA spokesperson's first question, "This position is not
about breastfeeding; it is about IBCLCs. Con you do that?"  My friend burst
out laughing, replying that without breastfeeding, who needs IBCLCs.

Needless to say, she did not get the position.

warmly,

-- 
Nikki Lee, she/her/hers
RN, BSN, Mother of 2, MS, Grandmother of 1, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI, ANLC, RYT500
*@NikkiLeeHealth*
www.nikkileehealth.com

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

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