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Subject:
From:
Joy Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:00:25 +0900
Content-Type:
text/plain
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At 8:27 PM -0500 30/12/07, LACTNET automatic digest system wrote:
>Your post was very difficult to read.  I was a victim of the sick care
>industry.  I empathize with many of these women because I have walked in
>their shoes.  When you are told, from the time you are born, that the people
>in the white coats have all the answers and they can heal you and their word
>is final, it is very, very difficult... indeed nearly impossible... to think
>otherwise.  How can people with no medical background know better than some
>people in white coats who've gone to school specifically for medicine?
<edited>

Hi Christina,
Thank you for your thoughtful post. I can relate to this as well, and 
agree with everything you wrote. I also wish I could have my babies 
again with the knowledge I have now!

I find myself trying to explain 'truths' to mothers when counselling 
as an Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor ('how could a 
*lay counsellor* know more than a doctor or nurse-midwife????') as 
well as when acting as an LC.

I try to explain that doctors, even paediatricians, receive little 
training in breastfeeding, so it is understandable that they don't 
know a lot about it. I say that there is just *so* much for them to 
learn about diseases and disorders and how to treat these (and how 
valuable they are when we or our children have medical problems, etc 
etc), but breastfeeding is neither a disease nor a disorder.

Similarly, I mention that hospital midwives have to know lots about 
pregnancy and delivery, and do learn about breastfeeding, but 
basically only the 'normal' course, and usually only have experience 
with the early days. They are not trained in managing complex 
difficulties - this is where lactation consultants come in. (Some 
midwives are also IBCLCs, so that has helped.) Even child health 
nurses in Australia, who are also midwives, know lots about 
monitoring normal child growth and development up to school age, and 
when to refer parents to other health professionals. However, they 
also don't usually know much about complex breastfeeding problems, 
unless they have sought extra education and become IBCLC as well. 
Here, many have done just that, and are wonderful resources for mums 
to get free expert help. (BTW, as an aside, this, in addition to 
hospital LC clinics, has virtually killed private practice for many 
LCs out in the community, as they have to charge fees, and therefore 
encouraged some of us to branch out into other related areas - or to 
train as midwives.)
-- 
******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc.(Zoology) Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. B.Sc.(Nutrition) IBCLC
Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

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