Just came back from the "Breastfeeding grand Rounds" videoconference with
Ruth Lawrence, and mary Applegate(dept of health). Anyone else "there" at any
of the NY sites?i. I was dismayed at the low turnout  - 20 women maybe, no
male MDs, and one MD was asleep most of the time... Anyway, I enjoyed this
presentation although didn't learn anything new myself, but it was nice to
review some of the intricacies of anatomy and physiology, and hear the case
studies, and Q and A period. I was suprised at some of the questions - do
healthy BF babies need POLYVISOL or what ever the vitamin is,( her reply,
usually not, except in rare circumstances) why would an "exclusively BF" baby
come back to the hospital at 5 days hypernatremic( she put the responsibilty
of the heaLTH CARE team, baby was not feeding enough, baby's feeding was not
examined and deemed satisfactory before MD d'c the baby in the first place),
can mom with Lyme disease BF (yea after 24 hrs treatment) I kept wondering
how much better things would go for moms if the hospitals had the new BF
Answer book or other good reference.  It's hard to believe that professionals
don;t know this stuff.  Some good questions as well. I guess getting anyone
to come to this is progress but I fear that those who need the info most
didn;'t come to the presentation. I did get a bit of info  on the school BF
stuff from K-12, and plan to get a copy. Since I was banned from career day,
I decided that going along the lines of established guidelines for schools
would be least likely to make anyone nervous for next year, and I doubt
anyone in the school will follow through on this if their arms aren't twisted
by the District. Enter me, smiling, knowledeable, tactful, and ready to
help... I hope. I would be interested to hear from others who attended this
video event, and hear your take on it all.
          Sincerely, Judy Fram, Brooklyn, NY