Useless presentation on breastfeeding--I'm so angry!

[duckling]

I meant to post this yesterday, but it's been a busy week and I didn't get a chance. :

I'm not a mama yet, but when I am, I 823082304% intend to breastfeed. Publicly. Right now, I'm a college student and taking a class called "Women's Reproductive Health."

It's an all women's class because apparently it's so irrelevant to men that none could be bothered to register. : This would be the class in which my peers decided I was off my rocker for wanting either an unassisted birth or a midwife at home with no epidural.

"You mean like at home? Like in your living room or something?"
"Really, no doctor?" :
"You'll want the drugs when you're in labor, trust me." <--that gem from a girl who's never given birth...

Anyway, to the point. We had a guest lecturer on breastfeeding. I was all excited, imagining the lactivism potential here. 70 women as a captive audience for what would surely prove to be a pro-breastfeeding presentation, yes?

Think again. This woman started the lecture with, "I mean, I wouldn't really consider myself an expert about breastfeeding. I'm not one of those experts...what are they called? The people who teach breastfeeding?"



"A lactation consultant," I provided sullenly from the back row where I was already starting to wilt in my seat out of sheer annoyance. I live in a pretty liberal, with-it town. I'm sure that somewhere in this city exists an LC who could have done this presentation.

The entire presentation was basically a "there's absolutely no difference between breast and bottle" schtick and she passed it off as a "matter of personal choice." While I recognize that there is room for a personal choice here, it's been proven that formula is nowhere near as good as breast...I was so angry. About five minutes into her presentation, I just stopped listening and started working on other things. She also did her best to make breastfeeding sound like the most painful, gross, miserable existence possible.

I'm both disappointed and really angry.

I figured this board was the only place to rant where I wouldn't get received as some crazy person.

[cristeen]

Did you complain to the instructor?

I would print off some info from the AAP and WHO websites and bring it to that instructor along with the names of some LCs in your area, and tell her how off-base that lady was, and that her information was completely false.

And if your instructor doesn't care, I'd take it to the head of the dept, because that's the kind of attitude that teachs OBs that they might as well shovel formula at all of us.

[elanorh]

:

After your next class, bring your professor a list of local LC's (IBC LC's would be best), LLL group contact information, etc. -- with the AAP, AAFP, WHO, ADA (American Dietetic Association) etc. information about the importance of breastfeeding. Kellymom is a good source for links to this information. If you can recall specific statements which were made which were inaccurate, cite those during your discussion.

Situate your concerns within the "just the facts, ma'am" approach - assuming in your approach that your prof will of course agree with you about it (even if you think s/he won't). If your prof blows you off, then take it up with the Dept. Chair. At that point, you probably want to put it into a letter with cc for the professor. Some people might advise you to wait 'til the end of the semester to bring it this far ... you will be the best judge of whether your prof is petty enough to try to hold something like this against you.

I think the first thing I'd note in a conversation would be that if breastfeeding were so difficult, our species wouldn't have survived. That much of the 'difficulty' that we have in the USA today is because of the misinformation which the guest lecturer gave the class.

(In terms of no guys in the class - I think a lot of women's issues courses are this way - I think quite a few guys are intimidated by that, and afraid that the courses are going to be One Big Man-Bash. )

ETA -- My sister took a similar course for her Family Sciences degree. She called me up one night to say that *one of the girls in her class hadn't realized that women lactated, she thought only animals did that!* Wow. And, in a later discussion where they were in small groups talking about breastfeeding, my sister had two women in her group who'd had children and were adamant that bf was gross and formula was the only way to go. My sister was just amazed! So sad ....

[Momtwice]

A great place to start
http://www.kellymom.com

[lml41981]

I would approach the professor about it first. Give her the opportunity to correct the misinformation. Part of feminism, I believe, is having the right to make informed decisions. If someone makes the informed choice to use formula, then I can't argue with that. I can disagree, but it is her choice. My problem comes when people aren't given accurate information which removes the ability to make informed decisions.

If she gives you lip or refuses to correct the information, then I'd ask if you could be allowed to do a presentation or something extra for class (or...if you have to do a presentation anyway, I'd use that opportunity to correct the misinformation). You could do the leg-work and arrange to have an IBCLC do a guest lecture if the prof. is open to it, too.

If the professor is completely closed to the idea of correcting the information, I would give a poor class evaluation and detail why it is poor (frex. professor is not concerned with teaching factual information).

[Momtwice]

You can also google "breastfeeding feminism" for some good stuff.

And make sure the LC is a good one first!

[beatee]

*one of the girls in her class hadn't realized that women lactated, she thought only animals did that!*

: woooooooah. This is college age? That's terrifying.

And it's such a shame that an opportunity like this has been wasted. It's completely unsurprising that people still choose to formula feed if this is the message they are given by people 'in authority'.

[lizanneh]

I agree that you should approach the professor. I'd say something like, "As a women's reproductive studies professor, I'm sure you were as disappointed as I was in the breastfeeding presentation. I'm hoping the syllabus allows time for a different, more experienced presenter, who can correct the misinformation provided last week. I've obtained some names of (lactation consultants, la leche league leaders, etc.) that I think would be great. Would you like my help in contacting them?"

Then if she says, "I don't know what you're talking about -- the presentation was fine," or "I use that same presenter every year and no one else has ever complained," then you hit her with the AAP/WHO stuff. And if she doesn't back off, go to the head of the department.

Just be sure you can defend your grade. If she gives you a bad grade because of this, you want to be able to challenge it and win.

Can you tell I was a PITA to have in class???

[sapphire_chan]

OMG! This was *JUST* the audience that needed to hear a strong probreastfeeding message. Not moms who already made a choice they felt guilty about. Not moms who were pressured by those around them.

OMG. An audience that would actually be able to *rationally* listen to arguments for breastfeeding without getting instantly defensive and the speaker blows it with BS.

I would so figure out a way to put the following up on the overhead in giant letters:
"Medical reasearch shows that choosing to breastfeed is the most important thing a mother can do for her child."

Okay, really after calming down a bit what I'd actually do is go to the professor and ask if it was really her intent to have someone who admitted to knowing nothing about breastfeeding give the breastfeeding presentation.

(Anyone else want to take a women's reproductive health class now? )

[MaryJaneLouise]

What dept was this in? Sociology? Women's studies? Nursing? Medicine?

[Meiri]

What this prof going to do next, have a man come in to discuss female orgasms and how they feel? In she taught Gym, would she be using a basketball when teaching the students how to play football?

That's pretty much what she did with the topic of breastfeeding.

[ulla]

Originally Posted by duckling

About five minutes into her presentation, I just stopped listening and started working on other things.

I don't think you should are in a good position to complain to your professor. By your own admission you weren't paying attention. It could have been a balanced presentation and you wouldn't know that because you were not listening. Maybe in this instance it would be wiser to just calm down and give the speaker the benefit of the doubt until you have another opportunity to listen to her presentation.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by ulla

I don't think you should are in a good position to complain to your professor. By your own admission you weren't paying attention. It could have been a balanced presentation and you wouldn't know that because you were not listening. Maybe in this instance it would be wiser to just calm down and give the speaker the benefit of the doubt until you have another opportunity to listen to her presentation.

When's the last time you had a class? Trust me, it's very possible to work on other things while still hearing enough of a presentation to catch if a speaker actually says something useful.

Plus, the speaker started off by admitting that she wasn't a breastfeeding expert. In fact, she started of by admitting that she didn't even know the *term* for a breastfeeding expert. At least in my department someone who admits to not being qualified to speak on their subject would never have been allowed to present. I find it astonishing that any class at the unversity level would invite such a person to speak.

[CalebsMama05]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

When's the last time you had a class? Trust me, it's very possible to work on other things while still hearing enough of a presentation to catch if a speaker actually says something useful.

Plus, the speaker started off by admitting that she wasn't a breastfeeding expert. In fact, she started of by admitting that she didn't even know the *term* for a breastfeeding expert. At least in my department someone who admits to not being qualified to speak on their subject would never have been allowed to present. I find it astonishing that any class at the unversity level would invite such a person to speak.

ITA!!!

[m0dernist]

Another important point, if this class is about women's health - how is ff no different in regards to the physicall benefits of bf for the mother? :

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by m0dernist

Another important point, if this class is about women's health - how is ff no different in regards to the physicall benefits of bf for the mother? :

Wow, can't believe I missed that one.

:
Duckling, be sure to share how it goes tomorrow! You might want to make m0dernist's point the main thrust of your discussion with your professor.

[lissabob]

Originally Posted by m0dernist

Another important point, if this class is about women's health - how is ff no different in regards to the physicall benefits of bf for the mother? :

Great point. Unfortunately sounds like the "presenter" didn't know about any of those either...
I have to admit if it were me I'd probably get kicked out of class for interupting with corrections.

[lesley&grace]

yup, I have to agree with lissabob...no way I would have been able to keep my mouth shut. In fact...when the woman said she was not an expert in breast-feeding, I would have asked her what she was doing there.

You need to complain to the professor and give her (making a gender assumption there I know) the chance to correct the errors the presenter made, get a promise from her that it will be done by the end of this week by way of the professor telling the class that the presenter was way off base and that she will be bringing in another presenter asap to give correct information. If she is not willing to correct her mistake in bringing in that presenter, go over her head, the department needs to know that this professor is grossly mis-informing the students.

[hunnybumm]

Originally Posted by m0dernist

Another important point, if this class is about women's health - how is ff no different in regards to the physicall benefits of bf for the mother? :

That's the first think that popped in my head when I finished reading the OP. BFing has many PROVEN health benefits for woman. Formula feeding by choice does not. How was formula even brought up in this type of setting?

[lesley&grace]

Hey duckling, just wondering if you had spoken with your prof and how it went?