As Sharon makes clear, the answer must be 'no'.  The problem is that there
are institutional flaws in the US in which the presence of any minor problem
can mean a serious threat to child health, because there is no one providing
that minimum of care in the early days post-partum, and the accepted
'solution' is well-cemented in the tradition of selling out babies and their
mothers - just give formula.

Until enough people make enough noise, there will never be a safety net to
catch all these cases.  High-intervention birth practices go hand in hand
with poor breastfeeding outcomes; whose interests are served by this?  Where
are the professionals who not only see this happening, but are participating
in it?  Where are the voters, who could demand that their elected
representatives make getting safely born and surviving one's first few weeks
as highly prioritized a societal task as being able to drive on a smooth,
paved, 4-lane highway to the nearest mall (where you can then purchase
nipple shields, because no one has had the time to show you how to BF
comfortably and effectively)?

The entire society is stacked against letting BF happen well.  It is not
going to be fixed by clinical research alone, though that is indeed a
necessary part of the picture.  It is still only a part.  Take a trip to
another country and consider how others have approached this.  You don't
have to go further than Canada to see something Completely Different.
Sometimes you have to get out of the water in order to see it.

with all respect for the many of you who are swimming against the tides in
those very treacherous waters,
Rachel Myr
US citizen and always will be, residing in Norway

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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