I'm interested in hearing more about "the filter of fear" -- I   don't
understand what you're trying to say, but it sounds like it's   probably
interesting. (I blame it on the #$*^@ fireworks that kept me up  way   too
late!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear  Friends:
Health care professionals see horrific  and scary  things 
sometimes. This fear doesn't get processed or  cleared, but  instead is 
carried along to the next situations. This fear changes   behavior and creates 
suspicion and doubt. Doctors say a normal birth can  only be deemed so once it is 
over; birth is viewed as a disaster waiting to  happen by most physicians. 
That is how they are trained. 
    What chance does a mother in US  hospitals  today have to learn about 
taking care of her baby in a positive way when she  isn't allowed to walk in the 
halls carrying her baby in arms for fear she will  slip and fall?  Mothers 
have to push their babies in aquariums on wheels to  minimize risk. This is 
another way an atmospher of fear is created. 
    What is peverse about this fear-based philosophy is  that all of the 
interventions that are done at birth to make it "safe"  actually increase the risk.
    So now women are afraid of "birth", but no one is  told that it is the 
routine, thoughtless use of technology that increases  danger. 
Fear takes the word   "protection"  and substitutes "reduced risk". 
Nothing is without risk;  and a  frightened person will keep the notion of 
possible terrible  future events in mind at all times. As a result, even a 
spontaneous, undisturbed  labor and birth  is labeled "low-risk".
In teaching, I've  learned to use phrases that put pictures in  people's 
minds. What sort of  image comes to mind with the phrase "low risk"? I  can 
imagine  'protection', like a shield or a seat belt. But I cannot  make  a mental 
image of 'low risk'. 
    Protection never meant guarantee.
    And a woman birthing with these attitudes of  fear and doubt in her 
environment has a difficult time  breastfeeding.
Just some  musings..........   
warmly,

Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct  Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human  Lactation
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com

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