The Subtle Paradigm

Hannah Boswell

Mothers' Day, May 14, 1995

Ah, the life of a small business owner. This Mothers' Day, as my little one sleeps, I sit at my computer filling orders and creating a new catalog. An entrepreneur's work is never done. It's been three thrilling years, and the ideas for high impact teaching materials and new products are still flowing. I've some great new items that you'll see for the first time at the ILCA conference this summer. See you there!

"High impact" means many things to many people. To me, it means audiovisuals that people look at and say, "Wow! I never thought of it that way!" That's why all the Facts in this catalog are stated as risks of artificial feeding, not benefits of breastfeeding. This phrasing has caused trouble for some of you. Your organization or boss doesn't want you to talk about the risk of artificial feeding. Some of you have asked for a re-issue of the Fact Packs with statements about the benefits of breastfeeding. I have given the matter much thought, and the Fact Packs will continue to unequivocally state the consequences of artificial feeding from both mothers and babies. Breastfeeding isn't "better." Artificial feeding is WORSE!!

This represents a subtle and significant paradigm shift. Our goal is to establish breastfeeding as the standard against which all other methods of infant feeding are measured. If you say that breastfeeding is better, you're using artificial feeding as the standard. It's NOT! Thousands of years of successful human experience must count for something!

The bottom line is that Mother Nature created the perfect food and dispensing system for babies and young children, and nothing humans have manufactured is even close. Let's stick to our guns on the Fact Packs, folks. I will strive to meet the needs of those of you who are unable to use them in other ways. Keep in mind, though, that you CAN use the FACTS as a resource, even if you don't share them directly with your clients. I will keep your requests for positively stated information about breastfeeding in mind as I continue to add new buttons, other packs, and professional resources and teaching materials. We can change attitudes, one person at a time.

©1995 Hannah J. G. Smith