The many posts relating to advice being given without substantiation to
support it and/or the other (many!) posts about being asked for proof to
support the LCs views touched too many buttons for me to remain quietly in
the background.  So, here goes onto the soapbox.  Someone please pass the
oxygen canister in about 20 seconds....

Going back to Hippocrates, it has always been my understanding that ALL
physicians are taught that they must FIRST DO NO HARM.  Now, it seems to me
that the key words in that statement are "FIRST", meaning that before they
do anything, they consider what they will do and the possible consequences
of their actions.  Next is the issue of "HARM."  IF what they plan will
harm, they should NOT do it!

Given that, when someone suggests an action that does not include the
potential for harm (as in returning a baby to breast who had previously
grown well on nothing but breastmilk) WHY does that person have to PROVE
that their suggestion is not harmful-when evaluation of the situation
already includes that information?

More to the point, if anyone suggests something that is DIFFERENT from the
norm, DIFFERENT from what had previously been going on with this baby OR
others whose experience is relevant, THEY need to show that their
suggestion will FIRST do NO Harm!  (Sorry, I am now shouting and waving
arms!)

We as LCs (as a group) need to work HARD at convincing ourselves that our
first response to the demand for proof that what is normal requires proof
that it does no harm is to say something like, "Excuse me? Breastfeeding is
the norm for human infant feeding.  Where is your evidence (we are, after
all trying to identify evidence-based care, are we not?) that your
suggestion to deviate from the norm will DO NO HARM?"

gotta get down, am turning

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e......

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"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly
disguised as impossible situations."
Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Ferndale, WA USA) [log in to unmask]
WEB PAGE: http://www.telcomplus.net/kga/lactation.htm
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