Jane writes:

Maybe  lactation consultants should be lactation  therapists? 


~~ Ah this has been an issue I've been wrestling with for years. It may be  
a moot point now, but I've always thought it made more sense for us to be  
"feeding therapists" rather than "lactation consultants." I could also  
understand "feeding consultant" as a descriptor. The problem was, I guess, that  
in OT and any other NON-LC health profession, like Speech,  etc. feeding 
meant "bottlefeeding in infancy followed by the intro of  solids and other 
liquids besides formula  and transition to solids and cup  or straw drinking. 
This is what I learned in PT school when we had our Growth  and Development 
classes with our fellow OTs. I don't remember hearing one word  about actual 
biologic feeding of a baby at its mother's breast. Of course this  was a 
long while ago and others can comment about any changes. When I took Wolf  and 
Glass I did wonder why none of the PTs or the OTs I knew never learned about 
 normal feeding at breast in school. No one can address the abnormal or  
challenged, unless normal is understood first.
 
The real challenge on top of all this, is that as "lactation consultants"  
we are also helping a mother negotiate the challenges of motherhood in 
general.  We know it's not just about nutrition transfer of the milk.  When a PT  
works with a new mom who is having painful intercourse, I doubt they really 
get  into the realities of new motherhood in general, while LCs may do this 
in the  context of sore nipples because it is certainly related and it 
seems no one  else does.
 
Peace,
Judy  

Judy LeVan  Fram, PT, IBCLC, LLLL
Brooklyn, NY,  USA

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