What’s My Line?

It scares me when I realize that even the breastfeeding experts often spout “the party line” about breastfeeding issues. Some opinion or interpretation gets started, and it is suddenly assumed to be the gospel truth. Since everyone “knows” that it’s right, it becomes the party line.

When I go around the country teaching, I hear “the party line” quite frequently. “They” said, or “a conference speaker” said, or “I heard” or “there’s a study that shows,” or “parents said,” or even “CNN said…” and on and on. Over the years, I have looked up every single one of these claims. Rarely is the claim actually true. Sometimes there is a kernel of truth, but most times, what I’m hearing—and what the lactation community believes and repeats—is a misunderstanding, a misinterpretation, or just plain baloney! Over and over I hear the party line on a number of issues: Breast shells are bad, hind milk doesn’t exist, belly balls are based on research findings, 5% of women can’t breastfeed, and much, much more.

Unfortunately, well-meaning but misinformed “experts” just keep repeating the party line. Ugh.

So, I named my new blog, The Gold Standard Line. Breastfeeding has long been known as the gold standard of infant feeding. The next step is to have experts nourish themselves with the gold standard of information. Here at Breastfeeding Outlook, our corporate tag line has always been “Evidence for your practice starts here.” I invite you to visit this blog when you are hungry for the truth. Come back often. I’ll have a new post once a week.