"To survive with our sanity and our souls
intact, and to have energy available for our lives
outside our lactation work,(<and Childbirth education and > my insertion)
WE CANNOT TRY HARDER THAN OUR CLIENTS ARE WILLING TO."
Standing firm and ready for those flames...
Carole Jernigan, IBCLC
hospital-based LC
Dear Lactnet:
I am mainly a lactnet lurker but Carole's remarks really struck a cord with
me. I have been a Childbirth & Breastfeeding Educator for 18+ years,
certified with I.C.E.A. for going on 12 years. Recently, I have become
discouraged regarding women not taking charge of their own health, life and
choices. My private term for this is "wimpy women".
I believe there are several reasons which contribute to women choosing to
not take the lead and / or persevere when things get tough.
#1 - Expectation of Accommodation, such as when things get tough either in
play-group, school, work etc. ... it is not the "Person" who must rise,
grow, adapt, change to meet these challenges but it is the school, work or
government, etc. who must "Accommodate" them. This shifts the
responsibility off of the individual.
#2- Societal Acceptance of Excuses, such as "I tried but...," " My home-
life, work, <insert favorite phrase> made me who I am, so I can't / or
won't ............" It was to hard and there are others who want me to
bottlefeed, pump.... " Excuses have become a pattern in their life. So they
are excused form being in charge of their choices.
#3- Time pressure - women are expecting a quick-fix. Often, I counsel moms
that a "tincture of time" is best, as in let your body choose the time to
go into labor or baby need time to adapt to their new environment. They do
not want or are not willing to wait it out.
#4- Pain or difficulty free-they are unwilling work through difficult
school courses, personal relationships, to feel any labor pain, so why
should they work through the early weeks of breastfeeding.
There are others that you would add to this list and some you would
disagree with. I look forward to reading responses.
My Women heroes are those who have searched out the information, stood up
for their choices, persevered through difficulties and challenged medical
providers to use evidence-based practice.
So how do we influence and teach this to others? What makes one woman give
in and another stand-up? Do I model this in my own life? How much of my
personal struggles with < whatever> do I share with my clients?
I agree with Carole that the majority of our time and effort should be
spent on the client willing to try.
Putting on my asbestos suit and climbing in the fire with Carole.
Leslie Andrews RN, ICCE
Private Practice
Great State of Texas
***********************************************
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
|
