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Attachment Parenting
What do they teach MDs about BFing?
I was visiting friends on the weekend. One is an orthopedic surgeon and when breastfeeding came up she said "oh, it's really only beneficial for the first month".
I was fairly floored. And also in a group of women where I am the only one with a child. I decided discussing this subject would be quite boring for the rest of them so didn't say anything.
Extended (past 1 year) breastfeeding came up and there were many jokes about it from my friends. I am hoping that if any of them have children we can actually have a serious discussion about this subject some day. Instead one of them sent me a link to a short doc on a women who has BFd her children to age 7. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Back to my friend the doctor: do they teach all docs to deliver babies and then give no training on breastfeeding?? I know she is not a family doc but did a few rotations in OB.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: What do they teach MDs about BFing?
I can tell you what they teach us...BFing is good and has many benefits AND if you have a patient who is BFing you better look up any medication before you give it to her. I got one lecture on it on my OB rotation. I'm not a pediatrician or an OB/GYN and frankly I don't deal with patients who are breastfeeding on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis.
You know what they DO teach us. Anatomy, pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, physiology -- in the first two years. In the last 2 years, we are on rotations. I spent 4 weeks on OB and of that, only 1 week in L&D. And I delivered one baby. That was 5 years ago. So I bet your friend knows how to repair every bone in the body AND save someone's life who isn't breathing. But may not know very much about breastfeeding.
Why don't you give us MDs a break?
My friend works her butt off. I have no doubt about that. I wasn't questioning how much work it is to be a doctor. I have several friends in med school and I bow down to them. The workload is unbelievable.
But for those of us who are not doctors we often look to our friends in the medical field for advice. Even when it is out of their area. She said one month was sufficient with such authority I guessed that this was what she had been taught on a pedi or OB rotation. I should have asked her more questions. I know my friends that currently don't have children listened to her remark and took note of it.
i will ditto this!
I totally wouldn't expect an orthopedic surgeon to know ANYTHING about breastfeeding more than any other member of the public.
Obviously, i'm pretty well-informed about breastfeeding as I'm a pediatrician and I deal with it on a (mostly) daily basis. However, I would be pretty much clueless had I not
1. Chosen to do a separate breastfeeding min-elective my 2nd year of residency.
2. Breastfed my son for 16 months and counting.
Unfortunately many pediatricians and Ob's are woefully in/mis-informed about breastfeeding in general, and that's is a problem!!!!
I don't really trust doctors who talk to me about breastfeeding or my child's sleep habits - unless it's my pedi, but then I take what she says with a grain of salt.
A pediatrician (not our main one) said some really annoying thing about BFing when LO was only 2 days old that really discouraged me. I'm glad I didn't listen to her.
that said, FIL is a family doctor, and he told me that there aren't benefits past 6 months. i also want to do extended BFing, so i'm a bit nervous with how they'll react. oh well, it's not up to them!
I don't really trust doctors who talk to me about breastfeeding or my child's sleep habits - unless it's my pedi, but then I take what she says with a grain of salt.
My OBs seem surprised that I am still BFing (and this was when I went in at 4.5 months pp!).
A pediatrician (not our main one) said some really annoying thing about BFing when LO was only 2 days old that really discouraged me. I'm glad I didn't listen to her.
that said, FIL is a family doctor, and he told me that there aren't benefits past 6 months. i also want to do extended BFing, so i'm a bit nervous with how they'll react. oh well, it's not up to them!
My OB told me that I couldn't have a yeast infection on my nipples because I didn't have a fever, which is absolutely NOT the case.
Luckily I was able to get better info from an LC.
I wouldn't expect and orthopedic surgeon to know about breastfeeding, but it would certainly be nice if my OB did.
Sorry if my comment sounded harsh. It gets old when people expect doctors to know everything about everything. In fact, our training is focused on our specialty. Breastfeeding just isn't going to be important to a doc who isn't an OB or pedi.
However, I do agree that OBs and pediatricians should be more knowledgable about BFing. I can't believe some of the stories I read on here. I'm glad my pedi is a breastfeeding mother -- she always had great advice for me.
I wouldn't expect an ortho doc to know anything about breatfeeding.... but I do have a problem that he is making a statement about something he clearly knows nothing about as if it were fact. Lots of people will take the word of an MD even if he has no idea what he is talking about. Since he has near zero information/training on the issue he shouldn't be offering any opinions on it.