There were no less than THREE separate news segments about the Chicago Hope show!

At 5am, the local CBS affiliate did a wonderful piece featuring Dr Michelle Lasker
and LCs Mary Kay Smith and Laura Walker. They all emphasised that dehydration was
caused by NOT breastfeeding, that is was rare, and preventable. They talked about
how to bf, how to tell that the baby was getting enough milk, and the benefits of
bf to both mother and baby. Fantastic!

Then I watched the show.
'Nuff said :(((

On the local 11pm news after the show, they showed a segment from the Johns Hopkins
rep. who spoke about supply and demand and again emphasised the benefits of bf.
There was a lovely shot of a mother of two, who said how wonderful it was, and how
she planned to nurse her second child longer than the first (who she weaned at
9mnths). The commentator urged ppl not to let this episode of Chicago Hope give the
wrong impression, since all the experts said that breast was best, that over 60% of
new mothers now breastfed, and that it was especially good for women who worked
outside of the home since bf babies were healthier.

AND....this morning, on the regular CBS morning program, Dr Bernadine Healy (their
health expert) talked about the importance of good poditioning and latch on, and
getting a checkup at 2-3 days pp to make sure everything was ok. Then came the
clanger - nurse as long as you can, even if it is only a couple of weeks. BF is
hard work, requires a noble effort, and don't feel guilty if you can't do it - the
AAP recommendations are nice, but not realistic! Talk about setting someone up for
failure! GRRRRRRRRRRR



Norma Ritter IBCLC
"Breastfeeding Matters" <[log in to unmask]>
"If not now, when? If not us, who?" R. Hillel