Linda Smith writes:
"If birth, breastfeeding and swimming always occurred normally, then we 
wouldn't need midwives, obstetricians, lactation consultants, or =
lifeguards. But even normal processes can go wrong. Lifesaving 
technology, effective monitoring, and safety measures clearly save 
lives. Overuse of technology distorts the joy of the participants and 
create complications that require even more technology to solve."


Linda,
Funny that you happened to cite these 3 activities. Birth and 
breastfeeding are innate to our species and require no teaching in 
their desired environment--a culture that trusts itself. Swimming, 
OTOH, does require teaching (or at least supervision while the child 
figures it out) in order to prevent injury or death. Yet, lifeguards, 
as a rule, don't go jumping into the water to pull out every swimmer 
just in case they might not know how to swim. They don't do CPR on 
every person coming out of the water, just in case they might have 
swallowed some water. They don't get in little boats and hover around 
swimmers asking them if they would like to be hauled to shore just in 
case they cannot manage to swim in on their own. This is analogous to 
what is done to birthing women--it is assumed that they cannot birth 
and every intervention is thrown at them--and I agree with Robbie 
Davis-Floyd--it is indeed an enculturation process. We keep talking 
about the judicious use of technology as if anyone knows what that 
means in the US--what is our frame of reference? As I see it, 
lifeguards are much more like midwives--they observe and usually never 
do more than that. They are not usually so eager to have to rescue 
someone and it's a good day to have gone home having just observed. 
Just like a homebirth midwife. Just like a LLLL. But, my question is 
this--are we as LCs more akin to the lifeguard or the obstetrician. Are 
we talking the good talk about interventions while justifying every 
possible use for them? I think we have bought into a model that is 
deeply flawed and I fear we are destined to become one more profession 
that trusts its own tools more than we do the human experience.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
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