Good clinical day.....

thinwildmercury · Mar 5, 2010

thanks for sharing! :)

allnurses Guide · Mar 5, 2010

Great job Crunchy Mama-- everybody says that breastfeeding is natural, which it is, but many new moms need that extra help with positioning the baby, latch on, ebbs and flows of milk supply, etc. You could have been the one to make that extra bit of difference for this young mother to successfully breastfeed her baby. :up:

allnurses Guide · Mar 5, 2010

Good clinical days are such a rush! File that one away to recall and remind you why you are doing this when a not as good day makes you question things. Well done nurse-to-be :)

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · Mar 5, 2010

Thanks everyone! What's sad is that she acted like this info was new to her. Yes, she's 17 but do the nurses even teach moms about breastfeeding? I understand they're busy but feeding a baby is kind of a basic thing to life, lol...you figure it would be a priority. Hope I did help considering the nursery nurses shoved a bag of formula and coupons in the drawer in her baby bed. Things really have to change. :/

Coriander, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2010

Going to my first clinicals in a couple of weeks and am scared to death. Thank you so much for sharing your positive experience. :)

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 7, 2010

Thanks everyone! What's sad is that she acted like this info was new to her. Yes, she's 17 but do the nurses even teach moms about breastfeeding? I understand they're busy but feeding a baby is kind of a basic thing to life, lol...you figure it would be a priority. Hope I did help considering the nursery nurses shoved a bag of formula and coupons in the drawer in her baby bed. Things really have to change. :/

I had 4 kids at 3 different hospitals and the nurses and support was always their for me and resources were given if I needed help once I got home so it does exists LOL

That is great, I have been able to help many friends with breastfeeding and it was always a good feelings, just as good as helping them through labor. I love L&D

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · Mar 8, 2010

I had 4 kids at 3 different hospitals and the nurses and support was always their for me and resources were given if I needed help once I got home so it does exists LOL
That is great, I have been able to help many friends with breastfeeding and it was always a good feelings, just as good as helping them through labor. I love L&D

I know breastfeeding knowledgable nurses exist but it seems there's many more that don't. Both my kids were born in different hospitals and both had good and bad. What's sad is that I had a nurse that was actually better then the LC! After getting through maternity, I can totally see why nurses aren't that educated about breastfeeding (among other topics). Maybe it's because I'm passionate about it but it's disturbing to me that in class we didn't talk much about breastfeeding at all. The book goes into a little more depth but my prof just skimmed it. :uhoh3:

DaniGrrl · Mar 8, 2010

It's great that you had such a great day and that you helped her with breastfeeding. My family does not BF, and I wish someone had educated me about it when I was a young mother with my oldest daughter. By my second daughter, I did figure it out.

mercuryrawks · Mar 8, 2010

Well, lets hope that tiny bit of help (in the grand scheme of things) was that little push she needed to keep going and feed her baby for months and months to come! I have seen so many moms "give up" due to missing a tiny kernel of information. I hope her seeing first hand something that seems to be sooo frustrating can often have a tiny fix. Great job, Crunchy Mama! I hope your OB clinical is WAY better then you had prepared for. Make sure to always take this day with you!

Mercury

allnurses Guide · Mar 8, 2010

Since breastfeeding isn't the "norm" in our culture, the ongoing support or what could be called folk wisdom isn't available to first time breastfeeding mom/baby couples. Hospital stays for an uneventful delivery have dropped off sharply, and a close female relative or friend isn't at home to help. Toss in a 6 week maternity leave and that's a lot of hurdles even for a mom who is committed to nursing her child.

For me personally, I learned quite a bit of fascinating things about the mom/child system as I went along. That's why I call it a mom/child system as though it were one thing instead of two. It would be very hard to explain that in a book. I was so lucky in that regard because I didn't have too many externally imposed time limits.

I thank all the women who act as volunteers to assist new moms on an ongoing basis, whether through La Leche League or other avenues. Thumbs up. :)

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2010

I just have to share my day that gave me a nice feeling. I helped a 17 year old new mom breastfeed her baby!! :yeah:The baby was preferring one breast over the other and she was getting kind of discouraged, sooo I showed her a little trick I used myself by simply using the football hold and she latched right on. She looked up at me with a big smile and said "THANK YOU"...she was so happy! I walked out of there feeling like I really helped and honestly haven't felt like that yet being in my 2nd semester. Anyway...just wanted to share my happy feelings, lol.

Isn't that the best? I had an "aha!" moment in OB clinical recently too. Did some patient teaching on my own without direction and really connected with the patient! I've felt lost in my other two clinicals or at best like I was following directions well, but this was the first time I felt like I was actually nursing.