Thank you, Liz, once again, for your 'voice of reason' !

Holly McSpadden, IBCLC

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 28, 2013, at 2:27 PM, "Elizabeth Brooks <[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I loved the news that Sally reported of a call with WIC [public health]
> administrators, and how to offer advice to BFg moms who are using
> marijuana.  Some states in the USA have now decriminalized marijuana use
> (although there are remains-to-be-seen legal issues because the federal
> level still considers its use criminal in all states ...).
> 
> Sally wrote, "Basically - The state office told us if we thought mother's
> use of
> marijuana was causing weight gain issues that we should call the Doctor and if
> we thought it was an issue of negligence we should contact CPS."
> 
> Love it love it love it.
> 
> This makes us look at WHAT IS HAPPENING to the mother and baby, instead of
> finding some singular physical activity to demonize.  Smoking marijuana ...
> drinking alcohol in pregnancy/lactation ... co-sleeping ... these are just
> a sampling of activities for which mothers have been shamed and villified,
> without anyone ever stopping to see how or if it MATTERS.
> 
> Mothers come to lactation with a whole host of good-and-bad
> habits/traits/situations.  As healthcare providers (HCPs), we should be
> offering evidence-based information and support, so the mother can make an
> informed decision on her own and her child's healthcare [in consultation
> with her primary HCP].
> 
> So if the IBCLC has a health concern about the baby (i.e. weight gain), the
> primary HCP (the pediatrician) needs to be pulled into the loop no matter
> *why* weight gain is sluggish.  Marijuana use?  Poor latch?  Insufficient
> feeds due to "training" programs of one kind or another?  Underlying
> illness?          Maternal physical anomalies lowering supplies?  Then --
> heck yeah -- the primary HCPs for mom and/or baby need to be part of the
> discussion!
> 
> What if the baby isn't gaining weight because the mother is smoking
> marijuana to the point of incoherence on a daily basis?  And not feeding
> her baby? Then, a call to Child Protective Services (CPS) is needed because
> the mother isn't parenting her child!
> 
> In other words:  We can't make blanket statements (and care plans ...)
> about marijuana use and BFg any more than we can about beer drinking and
> BFg or co-sleeping and BFg. There are saf*er* ways of doing everything
> (since no one can guaranty 100% safety ...), and this is what parents need
> to know.
> 
> -- 
> Liz Brooks JD IBCLC FILCA
> Wyndmoor, PA, USA
> 
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