Some have said that physicians don't really KNOW, and therefore believe, that formula feeding is potentially harmful. I disagree. I believe they would have to be living under a rock not to have had numerous opportunities to be confronted with this information. But I suspect that just HAVING the information is not always enough to cause a person to change their behavior or their protocol. In the case of some physicians, they KNOW, but are not willing to ACT LIKE THEY KNOW. As an example, I know very well that if I will exercise routinely, I will be healthier. But it is hard! It takes extra time, and the results of NOT exercising are not immediately obvious. (To take the example a bit further, my mother (age 70) has never exercised, and "she's FINE..." ) To be truthful, I need a kick in the backside from time to time to get me to exercise. Often, when faced with a difficult issue, people claim not to "believe" that they need to make a change, as a way of justifying not taking the necessary action. I think about aquaintances who smoke, and their insistance, over the years, that they didn't "believe" that second hand smoke was harmful (because they hated the idea of smoking being banned on planes and in restaurants.) This behavior, of taking a stand against what is obviously true, is a type of denial, and we all practice it from time to time- it's our mind trying to help us out of difficult situations. This discussion came up as a result of the claim that physicians might support formula because they stand to gain monitarily... maybe that overstates the case. However to become fully informed about and to begin practicing breastfeeding supportive medicine WOULD be more costly to a physician... in time and in money and brain strain, reading more, attending some seminars, subscribing to a journal maybe, sending staff for training... This is no doubt where the stasis sets in, just like for me with exercise. But, there is one BIG difference between me and my resistance to what I KNOW is true about exercise and what happens when a physician resists becoming breastfeeding educated. In my case, I only harm myself. Susan Jacoby, IBCLC Fresno *********************************************** 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(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html