Wow, I seem to have hit a nerve with Mary in my post on logic.  I think
perhaps I did not express myself well enough.  Let's see if I can do
better!
Mary says,
<<Some people "need" scare tactics? Why? I respect my client more than
to treat them as children who need scolding.>>  I personally resent
being treated this way and am not advocating it for others.  Perhaps a
better way to say what I meant is that some people do not change their
behavior until they see the possible results of their choices.  That
would explain why some people even now take up smoking -or continue- in
spite of all the evidence.  Some may quit when they see the blackened
lungs in a jar or demonstrated in some other visual way or if a relative
or friend dies of lung cancer.  I am not arguing that these *are* scare
tactics.  That is just what they have been labeled.  Let's call them
visual examples.  That would be more accurate!  It takes those visual
examples for some people to change their behavior.  Hence the crash test
dummies and the egg frying in the pan to demonstrate "your brain on
drugs."  Ad agencies (and the Ad Council) know that visual examples grab
people's attention and influence decisions.

You said, <<If there is NO evidence, and we are simply supplying our
personal opinon of what "seems logical" it IS a "scare tactic.>>  As
Linda Smith noted in a post I received right after Mary's, until there
is research to confirm or refute something, beliefs will prevail.  Some
will ultimately be proved and others disproved.  I am not advocating
that we do anything that research proves is harmful.  Some things we
tell moms are based on long experience and there is no research about
why something does or does not work.  Perhaps what I called "logic" is
actually common sense.  Common sense -or logic- would indeed indicate
that most or all things that a mother consumes would get into her milk.
That "belief" is correct. (I refer you to page 8 of Dr. Hale's most
recent book.)  The degree to which they get in is the unknown.  The
result of our ignorance regarding how meds might affect babies should
have been to not prescribe the drug to a breastfeeding mother or to
watch the baby for signs of problems, adjust the dosage or something.
Not give the baby formula. That advice from the doctor is the direct
result of marketing on the part of the formula industry which has/had
most in this country believing formula to be "as good as" breastmilk.
Not "logic".  Of course, there is no excuse for a doctor to defy
research in his/her care of their patients.  I must say my common sense
told me breast milk, as tested over time by nature (and created by God,
in my faith) had to be the best thing for my babies.  I would have quit
breastfeeding in the face of the obstacles some of my children and I
experienced in our early breastfeeding months otherwise.  Marketing
directed the doctor's actions.  Reasoning (mother's intuition?!)
directed mine.

So, perhaps our differences are over terminology.  I don't think we
disagree on the nuts and bolts of the importance of research in this.
All in all, we are faced with choices every day.  Some we will find
evidence to help us in making.  For others, there is no evidence.  We
must rely on our own common sense, intuition and reasoning abilities for
those.  For mothers making choices regarding feeding and caring for
their babies, we can only provide 1) What we *know* to be true
(research), 2) What is generally believed to be true ("many mothers
find" is the wordage advocated in such situations) or 3) Tell moms we
simply don't know.  We give information about the knowns and the
unknowns and moms must make their own choices.

I am currently working with a mother who gave up breastfeeding her first
child after just a few days because of latch issues.  She's educated.
She knew the possible benefits to her child, but still didn't believe it
would make *that* much of a difference.  That child now has severe
asthma and allergies and you better believe she and her husband are
motivated to work through the latch issues with their current baby in
hopes of preventing a repeat.  In this case, just knowing the research
did not change their behavior (choice!)  As they say, "seeing is
believing."

Marsha in Indiana

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future
generations as all other earthly causes combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~John S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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