>
>
>It's like the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance -- the discomfort that 
>people feel when asked to learn something that conflicts with what they 
>already "know."  In fact, that describes perfectly what happens when 
>you try to tell people how important breastfeeding is for maternal and 
>infant health; they just can't accept it, because if it were THAT 
>important, why wouldn't the medical establishment and the government be 
>banning formula giveaways and making breastfeeding help a priority?  
>Why wouldn't everyone be doing it?
>
Great post, Lynnette! I just wanted to add a point about that last 
question. I think it may be true that if HCPs are not consistent, they 
are seen to lack conviction. But if they are consistent, they can also 
be seen to be rigid and insensitive, or -- and this is really true among 
certain groups of feminists -- it is seen as a conspiracy against 
freedom of choice. That's why I'm uncomfortable about some of the 
rhetoric, too. I turn off my mind as soon as someone says there's only 
one right way to do anything, or only one real choice. Then I just have 
my emotions to respond, and many of Lynnette's points very eloquently 
addressed what happens in the region between our heart and our gut. 
(Guess where our "maternal response area" is?) If we are going to reach 
the increasing number of women who are taking a very proactive position 
towards their health, we need to tell them that they need and deserve to 
have all the information available on the subject, and make their own 
decision based on that. Some of the most important information we have 
to offer is about the way mothering through breastfeeding fits into a 
woman's sense of self, how it empowers women across lines of race and 
class, how it builds meaning, how important an impact it has on the 
health and well-being of her personal relationships, and so on. I think 
we're doing a disservice by considering some of this "soft" information 
about mothering as sentimental or traditional, when we could be seeing 
it (as we do in our house, thank goodness!) in terms of women's 
different ways of being and the move towards world peace. Being told 
that you can get help with your latch is, in my opinion, a lot less of a 
motivation than this kind of understanding...

Jo-Anne

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

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(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html