The Lactation Police

As someone who see lactation consultants as a group of professionals trying to help weary mothers and uncooperative babies, I hate to see them reflected poorly in the news. In the last week, The Washington Post published two articles that portrayed lactation consultants in a negative light.

The first of these articles, Your breast-feeding and bottle feeding comments are unwelcome, calls lactation consultants “lactation torturers.”

The second post, My husband calls them breast-feeding bullies, says that many see lactation consultants as medical professionals “who are seen as pushing breastfeeding by any means necessary.”

As a lactation consultant, it is important to remember how often mothers feel like failures when they are unable to breastfeed. Telling them to “try harder” won’t motivate them, especially when they think that they are trying as hard as they can.