Someone wrote:

>When I first joined lactnet there were fairly frequent posting >addressed
>'to the wise ones' (or even 'to the Wise Ones').  I found >this bizarre in
>the exteme and tried to imagine it was the result of >some joke I had
>missed.

As someone who has been on since the beginning, the reference to the "Wise
Ones" means all the collective minds, the 'cyber-knowledge' or
'cyber-library' or 'cyber-encyclopedia' of wisdom about breastfeeding that
LactNet represents.  We have lactation consultants, doctors, nurses, LLL
leaders, even anthropologists on LactNet, as well as many others of
differing backgrounds and from countries all over the world.  Together we
represent an irreplaceable resource of knowledge, support, sounding-board,
and sanity saver.  When members post queries to the "Wise Ones" they are
asking the collective minds.  It's not bizarre, it's not putting people on
pedestals, and it's not a joke.  It's respect for how much valuable
knowledge and support we represent together.

We bring different strengths, different personalities, different agendas,
even, to LactNet.  Negativity is to be expected when someone who has been a
staunch supporter of breastfeeding sells out.  We need to be able to discuss
how the flap about askdrsears.com affects us.  This is a legitimate subject
for discussion and debate on LactNet.  I'm *sure* the list mothers will
correct me if I'm wrong about this.

We *need* all the different perspectives and approaches.  We need people in
the trenches working with mothers and babies.  We need people working on
state and national legislation to support adequate maternity care and
breastfeeding support in the workplace.  We need people working on
international issues such as ILO regulations and HIV/AIDS prevention.  We
need people smiling at moms nursing in the mall.  We need NICU nurses who
know about kangaroo care and the importance of human milk for preemies. We
need to know how things are done in different hospitals, different
communities, different countries.  We need to know what is possible, and we
need to support each other both in times of distress and frustration, and in
times of celebration of successes.  We need all of us.  We are all the "Wise
Ones."




Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.


P.S.  A special thank you to the list mothers who started LactNet and keep
it going.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html