Susan Burger said:
'I've always hated the terms "baby-led" and "mother-led" and found a nice
article by Beatrice Beebe who does research on attachment theory.  Her
article was very hard to read, but the essence was that you are dealing with
the baby and the mother as individuals and the baby and the mother as an
interactive system --- really three systems going on. '

Susan, what you say reminds me of a term the Linda Smith, Alison Hazelbaker,
and a couple of other Ohioans came up with: "the triune client." By this
they meant that LCs have three things to take care of.the mother, the baby,
and the breastfeeding relationship. 

I think that interactive system-which is way more than breastfeeding, isn't
it?-is something the health authorities have neglected to "market" as well
as they have marketed "The Milk."  Or maybe we just haven't been as clear as
we should be that "breastfeeding" doesn't mean just getting "The Milk" down
the baby's gullet. It is the whole complex of interaction between mother and
child, starting with the mother's own health, nutrition, and development
(physical, emotional, mental, etc.) and ending with the child's nutrition,
growth, immune competence, and development in all senses of the word.

Whew!

I knew there had to be a reason I have found breastfeeding such an absorbing
study for so many years.
Chris

Chris Mulford, BSN, IBCLC
Project Coordinator, the PA-BC Business Case for Breastfeeding
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, World Alliance for Breastfeeding
Action


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

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome