Dear all:

I started out my day in a very good mood when I woke way too early and saw tons of beautiful snow outside and snuck out with my snow pants and jacket over my pajamas to take pictures of Broadway in New York City with NO CARS at all -- just beautiful snow covering everything.  And it was a snow day.  Now, I have been trying to work on a paper on how to use the WHO growth charts (which is written into our competencies by the IBLCE).  Not exactly the most exciting task.  So, in rummaging around for info -- I found a lovely piece by Ron Rohde about James P Grant --- which was in what I thought was the regular UNICEF site.  

In this site I found the annual report that did not mention breastfeeding.  Not a word.  And there was this lovely stream of words in different fonts from A to Z with the names of countries and interventions decorating the website -- but not the word breastfeeding.   So, I called the contact us number -- mentioning that my son does do the UNICEF trick or treat donations and I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of the most important intervention for child survival -- namely breastfeeding.  The woman told me that breastfeeding is not good in developing countries because malnourished women's milk doesn't have enough nourishment.   That's right -- from someone at UNICEF.  

When I tried to explain that I have a doctorate in nutritional sciences and have read filing cabinets of research on the topic and even worked in 33 of the countries where UNICEF has projects and this is simply not true, she got so mad at me that she threatened to call the police and hung up.  I didn't raise my voice'  I didn't swear, I didn't do anything other than point out she had her facts wrong.  I discovered that I was actually in the US Fund for UNICEF, but even so, wouldn't you think someone who works for a UNICEF office might have a clue that Breastfeeding was one of James P Grant's key interventions?  Wouldn't you think their staff would be at least a little bit educated about their mission?  And when has it become a crime to politely but firmly tell someone they have their facts wrong?  My internal sense is that so many women feel fundamentally threatened by all the criticism that comes with being a mother, that infant feeding decisions have become so volatile that some women cannot even discuss any deviation from what they think is right -- no matter what the evidence.  

It reminded me of the vicious attack on Morgan Gallagher when she mentioned that she breastfed her son until he was some age that one of the other commentators thought was too old when she was on the BBC because of that silly woman who thinks that it is fine to talk about the value of her sex life, but ichy to enjoy breastfeeding in a perverse twist from my mothers era when women weren't supposed to have orgasms (or at least not talk about having them) but they were supposed to love ONLY doing childrearing.  Since when are we supposed to swap one pleasure for another?

Anyway, that will teach me to drift away from my mission.  Enough procrastinating.

Susan Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

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