Hello all.  I've been struggling with some issues lately and I feel the need
to share.  I've been feeling really angry at some of my moms lately.  You
see, they don't want to breastfeed, never even considered it.  These are
moms I meet for the first time in the nursery, so they've "already made up
their minds"  and it really won't do any good to try to talk to them about
it.  But I have trouble going into their rooms to talk to them, just to tell
them "hi, I'm your baby's doctor and s/he's healthy"  When what I really
want to say is "WHY AREN'T YOU GOING TO BREASTFEED!!!!!!!, it's the best
thing you can do, the greatest gift after giving life, the best preventer of
unwanted disease, the most nurturing thing in this world, etc, etc, etc,"
but I can't do that, because, they've already decided, and, there's nothing
I can do.  It just depresses the hell out of me.  The lactation consultant I
work with says that I'm going through the natural stages of becoming a
lactation consultant.  First, you just start hearing things about
breastfeeding that intrigue you, like breastfed babies aren't sick as often,
things like that.  So then you study more and more, and you learn more and
more things, and then you start feeling really good about it, aND you want
everyone to think as you do.  But then you start realizing that it won't
happen, and that people don't even want to hear what you have to say, that
they think that YOU are the crazy one.  You have become a "breastfeeding
Virago".  This is where I am now, and it's driving me crazy.  ARe any of you
relating to any of this?  Anyway, supposedly there is the final stage, where
you accept everyone's personal decision about breastfeeding and it doesn't
bother you too much.  But it's so sad.  This is one pediatrician who says to
herself, your precious little baby may not be in here seeing me today if
you'd just breastfed.   One last thing, before I stop.  I really strongly
believe that our society not breastfeeding our children has a lot to do with
all this violence, hatred, drug use, women hatred that goes on in our
society today.  If people just breastfed their kids and nurtured them
appropriately, I just don't think alot of these terrible things would be
happening in our society as much.  Whew!  I really could be labeled a
"NIPPLE NAZI" for that statement.  Thanks for listening, y'all.


Terry Lynn Dise, MD
[log in to unmask]