Home Health visits for mother/baby?

[harborview]

Hi there, I'm a very indecisive second-degree-seeking pre-nursing student. I have awhile to figure things out, but one of the avenues I'm exploring is OB. I really decided to go back to school and become a nurse because of the birth of my son. I'd love to be a IBCLC, but working in Labor and Delivery or in the Mother/Baby unit sounds pretty cool too. If I did want to focus on getting hours for the IBCLC exam, do you think the mother/baby unit would give me the most? How many years do you think it would take to accumulate enough hours? Is there a faster avenue (even if it is upaid?)

My other question is about the well mother/baby home visits nurses do? Under my insurance, when my baby was born, I was offered a visit at my home from a nurse. Are those agency nurses, or do they work out of the hospital? Are any of them lactation consultants? Thanks in advance!

[cmonkey]

My HHN was through the county, which I would think is pretty typical. I don't think she was a LC but she did seem to know what she was talking about (this is my 3rd, so I didn't have many questions).

As for hours, I'd call and ask a LLL leader if doing work with them would count. I have no idea if they are, but they might. You could go go regular meetings, answer phone calls, etc., if they are allowed.

Good luck!

[rn4babies63]

I did mother/baby home visits through the hospital I work at. I also worked 6 years for a program called Nurse/Family Partnership which followed mom/baby from pregnancy to age 2. It was grant funded and not affiliated with the hospital. I feel that you need some mother/baby experience before doing home visits. It is very independent and you needed to be familiar with assessments of postpartum moms/newborns plus loads of education. I am not a lactation consultant but I know it also requires extensive training plus many on-hand hours to become certified. Although well versed in breastfeeding, it's certainly not my forte and will hand over the reigns to the lactation consultants anyday! Good luck in your decision. I love mother/baby and can't imagine doing anything else. Be patient, get some experience and you can do whatever you dream to do!