Dear Colleagues,

I have a new thought on the SOP, after listening to many wise  
colleagues on Lactnet and elsewhere.  My thought is that I am not  
afraid of an SOP that says we should not contradict a doctor.  I  
never contradict doctors anyway.  If a doctor advised a woman to wean  
for mastitis, I would say to the mother "how do you feel about that  
advice?"  or "interesting...my information shows that continued  
breastfeeding can help treat the mastitis.  I wonder if you and your  
doctor would like to see this information before you make a decision?"

If a doctor called me up and accused me of contradicting her, I would  
make every effort to understand what had happened, and let the doctor  
know that I would never knowingly contradict her because I have the  
highest respect for doctors.  If the doctor said "the mother told me  
that you said she could ignore my advice to wean," I would say that  
there must have been a miscommunication, because I would never  
recommend ignoring a doctor's advice. I would let her know that I  
shared information from xyz sources, which I would be happy to  
forward to the doctor as well, but I advised the mother to discuss  
this with the doctor.

I assume that the doctor has been too busy treating serious illnesses  
to be up to date on the latest breastfeeding research, but I am  
delighted that she cares enough to actually call me about this issue,  
and I would welcome any opportunity to save the doctor time by  
providing evidence-based medical resources on breastfeeding to their  
office (such as a printout from the AAP's statement on breastfeeding  
with relevant passages highlighted).

At least, I hope this is a helpful strategy.  I have not yet had to  
defend my practices, and I hope I never have to since I hate  
confrontation!

----
Lynnette Hafken, MA, Mother of 3, LLLL, IBCLC
"Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on  
each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the  
suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You  
long to comfort all who are desolate."  - Charlotte Gray



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