My Thoughts | Fed is Best & the Lactation Profession | Follow up
Read time | 6 minutes
Yesterday I posted a blog I wrote earlier this year, and I have been surprised by the number of views and shares it's received in the last 24 hours.
As my post (This is why the lactation industry will never win against Fed is Best) continues to gain traction, it's inevitable that those who support FiB or those who have had been helped and served by them will start to voice their contention with the post.
I anticipated this when I wrote the post, but as I was getting far fewer views, both to that post and to my website as a whole, I didn't feel the urgency I do today to make sure I am clear on my stance regarding both the Fed is Best Organization (FiB) and the lactation community as a whole.
My thoughts on FiB
If there's one point I want to make sure is crystal clear is that I have not a single issue with parents - Parents who feel supported by fed is best, those who use the phrase, those who choose to not human milk feed, or those who combination feed.
What I do have an issue with, is an organization which operates under the guise of supporting ALL infant feeding practices but yet in action, does everything to undermine the confidence a parent may have in their ability to human milk feed.
It's important to note that their focus is VERY narrow: preventing insufficient human milk intake during the first couple of weeks post-birth. A time in which many parents DO need extra support and guidance and a critical time in a baby's health.
We all agree on that.
However, what I rarely hear them do is provide guidance, support, and resources in a way that is congruent with supporting the long term goals of parents who desire breastfeed.
I do not hear them publicly explain reasonable solutions to overcome poor infant feeding that INCLUDE proper lactation support, nor do I see them provide alternatives to formula supplementation that would still reduce the problems they aim to solve.
Most importantly, and most alarmingly, they RARELY provide information on their very active platform on SAFE infant formula preparation.
If you look at their platform, or the platform of their avid supporters such as the Skeptical OB, you will see that while they claim their mission is to support safe infant feeding, their actions seem to better align with a campaign against the lactation profession.
If you didn't read my blog post yet, I will say it again:
FiB and the Lactation Profession *shouldn't* be "enemies." If the goal is safe, sufficient intake to ensure thriving, healthy babies, we are 100 percent on the same page.
I don't agree with their tactics. I don't agree with their approach. I don't agree with the angle they take on their social platforms. I don't agree with how they handle commenting on to those both in support of them and those who oppose them.
But as much as I HATE their approach, I can't deny that they don't exist in a bubble and to better understand why parents are finding solace in their support, we have to take a critical look at the lactation profession.
My thoughts on the Lactation Profession
When I started in this field five years ago, I had no idea just how much our industry would contribute to a system that fails parents. I was bright-eyed and optimistic, idolizing ANYONE and EVERYONE who seemed to be 'rocking it'.
Write a book? You were famous!
Have a thriving business? You were famous!
I couldn't wait to soak up every bit of information. Yet, I couldn't decipher between information that would successfully support parents and information that was either unsupportive or conveyed in an unsupportive way.
One of the biggest critiques of lactation professionals or "lactivists" is that they are too focused on WHAT is being fed, or HOW it's being fed rather than on the person(s) responsible for feeding their babies.
And I couldn't agree with them more.
I've been very vocal on my stance on how some lactation professionals fail parents and push them over into the FiB camp, unintentionally.
THE MOST essential thing is that parents feel supported in whatever decisions they make. And though in an ideal world, every baby who could tolerate human milk would have access to unlimited amounts of it, that's not our reality.
Not only do we not live in a society where that's possible in most cases, but that's also not every parent's goal.
And again, if it's not clear by now, why a parent chooses to human milk feed or chooses to not, is not anyone's business.
From my time immersed in the lactation community and the years it's taken to "work my way up", I can honestly say that the majority of lactation professionals do not fail parents because of an obsession with knowing why a parent chooses to do something.
Instead, those who fail parents often do so because of an inflexible idea or concept around human milk feeding.
The professionals who fail parents are most likely to be those who tell a parent that
exclusively pumping is unsustainable
all they have to do is pump more frequently or for longer
their latch looks perfect despite it hurting, or ineffective
The professionals who fail parents are most likely to be those that
don't consider how the experience of a white breastfeeding parent may differ from that of a black or brown parent
don't believe pronouns matter or believe "breastfeeding" is something only "women" do
don't make the appropriate referrals
don't request labs been drawn in cases of low supply
don't fully understand how time, energy, labor, and emotionally demanding human milk feeding can be
And the points I've made don't even touch the surface of all the ways that lactation professionals fail parents.
But the solution is NOT FiB.
I've said it before, and I will say it a million times more, that we need to be improving the standard of care by working on ourselves.
It's for this reason organizations aimed at improving both access to and the standard of lactation support exist.
It's the reason we have such strong guidelines in our social media group, Lactogensis II, that has over 7,5000 infant feeding professionals and advocates.
It's for this reason, improving the quality of care to a standard that parents need and deserve, that I've very publicly taken a stance that would potentially anger some of my colleagues.
Though I would argue that if you're offended by what I've got to say, it might be that you might fit into the "pushing parents to FiB" camp.
I write this because I don't want anyone who comes for me based on my stance toward FiB to be able to say that I am ignorant of the issues within our profession. Or that I've done nothing to try to influence change in our industry.
To make this fun, and since I do want to open the conversation, please continue the list below by completing one or both of the statements:
1)The professional who fail parents are most likely to be those who tell a parent that
2) The professional who fails parents are most likely to be those that
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