Nancy Wrote: I agree, except all the doctor has to do is to make the case that the LC is, in his/her opinion, "harming" his patients or the doctor-patient relationship. Ann Wrote: Nancy, this is kind of a scary statement. It sounds like if a patient requested other services that a physician does not care for, they would be either denied these services or the LC who saw the patient could lose their job. I some time sense these feeling at work that the physician is always correct and anyone daring to contradict what they say could be in jeopardy of their job. With what you just wrote this seems to give credit to this fear. :-(( How can any of us practice if this is what we must fear? Ann Perry, RN, IBCLC Boston, MA Ann, We all have biases. I know there are doctors in the area that I am less comfortable with and, given the choice, I will refer patients to more breastfeeding friendly docs. I don't believe that I am alone in this practice. How do you jump from seeing a patient without the doctor's permission (did I read that right?) to to someone losing their job? Wow, that's a huge leap. I really wasn't aware that a woman needed her doctor's permission to seek the help of a trained breastfeeding professional. And as far as contradicting an MD and losing your job, is this your perception or has this actually happened in your area - where the reason for termination was because an LC contradicted a physician? That sounds pretty extreme and questionably legal. Sometimes, because a certain doc has a reputation for being a bear or uncooperative or even down-right nasty, he or she is feared. To that I say "phooey." If I know I'm right, and I know that my suggestions are in the best interest of the mother and baby, I will stand by them, regardless of whether or not I make somebody mad. And that doen't mean you have to be confrontational, either. Just firm. Honestly, if I worked in an atmosphere where I felt fear of losing my job for DOING my job, I would look for an alternate place of employment, even if that meant going out on my own. Theresa Chmiel, CLC, ICCE *********************************************** 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