Thanks for your level-headed, diplomatic response. It echoes my
experiences with trying to change attitudes of health professionals.

I think resistance against learning about breastfeeding more often goes
to a deeper, subconscious level that probably involves many personal
experiences of various facets of the breast, with one's mother, one's
spouse and children and our culture in general. Myth and misinformation
abound.

For women especially, it can be a very personally threatening subject.
For all we know, the resistant nurse being discussed may have experienced
some form of molestation as a child.

Her devotion to the type of detached, controlled care she sees as good
for the babies may be deeply rooted in a desire to protect her charges
and avoid the emotional trauma it causes her to expand her viewpoints.
Education and therapy are vastly different. Passive-agressive behavior
has deep roots.

One useful metaphor might be the scenario of a man seeking help from his
physician for ED. Sexual counseling might be far afield from the
physician's training. Would that there were a pill like Viagra that could
be prescribed to save studying more to solve breastfeeding problems!

It's easier to depersonalize searching for actual pathology of the
breast. But the personal experiences and the general confusion our
culture encourages about the purpose of the breast affects HCP's long
before they enter their professional education!

Jean
*******************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA

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