Hey, you guys, does anyone happen to know any lactation consultants? I have some questions- maybe you can answer them.
We currently have a lactation consultant, and the whole thing is a bit of a joke. It's one of those "I've been here forever, they'll never fire me, I'm not doing my job, too bad for you, Muhahahaha!" kind of deals. She's been on staff forever, is never available, only does day shifts Mon-Fri. I've never met her, but I've heard from others on day shift that she's always sitting in a back office basically hiding all day long, doing very little work.
She sent a memo out about six months ago saying that she was no longer working with every mom, but rather would be working only with those who had severe breastfeeding issues, like cleft palates and the like. All others had to be taught and counseled by the nurses. Well, much as we'd like to, this has turned out horribly. Our nurses get no education on this and most of them could care less about learning more (morale is very low on my unit presently, but I digress...). Myself and one other nurse on night shift are the only ones who attempt to promote this, and know jack about breastfeeding, pumping/storing, etc.
It's horrible, because we are missing valuable opportunities here and there are only two of us, which means limited results. Management on our unit seems very...umm...unconcerned about doing anything about this, and of course, this consultant has been here for YEARS, so she's never going to be fired or quit, I promise you (the retirement bennies at this hospital are pretty good, so we have a TON of people who could give a crap about their jobs and only stay because they're counting the years to retirement).
I was just wondering. Hmm. Advice? Suggestions? How do the consultants work at your hospital? How present are they?
And on a side note, how much do you figure this woman is getting paid for not doing anything? I can't help but think, wow, I'd love to have her job. I'm so very pro-education that I know I could excel in that type of position, and I realize it takes a ton of experience to become certified and all that, but I am just daydreaming a bit, you know? How much do lactation consultants get paid? It's probably not comparable to nursing salaries, but then again, it seems at our hospital that people with titles get paid a hell of a lot for doing virtually nothing.
We sure are lucky dawngloves! I can't say enough good things about her. I came ffrom an OB background and consider myself fairly knowledgeable about breastfeeding as I have helped litterally thousands of women breastfeed, but the NICU babies are COMPLETELY different! Oral aversions, congenital deformities, impaired suck reflexes, babies who just want to be tube fed.... It is way more than ordinary breastfeeding can prepare you for! I tell the moms there that even breastfeeding a healthy term infant can be extremely challenging, so there's no shame in needing a little more help with an NICU baby.
I agree . .Fergus makes a great point. We too were having problems with the nurses and cna's telling moms conflicting things about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding your own child does not guarantee you have up to date knowledge. One nurse who had her kids 20+ years ago and breastfed had alot of old wife's tales to tell. :)
We do have a lactation consultant and she is great but doesn't work 24 hours a day. We have started sending our cna's and nurses to lactation classes so we are all sending the same message to our moms. Regular old normal delivery moms need alot of support to continue breastfeeding outside the hospital.
We did a survery a couple of years ago . .I did some of the phone calling. The major reason women stopped breastfeeding was no FOLLOW UP support at home. Our LC phones or visits all moms after discharge. I'd like to see more of that (home visits) . . waiting the two weeks to come back in to see the doc usually means the mom will stop breastfeeding. And not to diss the docs, the truth is they don't really know that much about breastfeeding, in my experience.
You know, I think I'd raise a stink about your lactation consultant. That is just ridiculous.
We dont have a lactaton consultant. The nurses are supposed to help the moms with breastfeeding. Unfortunatly we allso have a problem with conflicting advise.
We have a Lactation Consultant on Staff every day, she sees the worst cases, and she also holds a clinic after lunch for discharged Mums who are still needing support.
To work in NICU here, you have to be a midwife...so you know the breast feeding basics, we also have inservice meetings once a month on breast feeding techniques, stimulating sucking reflexes in neonates and milk storage etc...this is one of the most vital requirements for discharge planning...Baby cannot go home if it is not feeding.
A good lactation RN is worth her weight in colostrum. IMHO, it is very shortsighted to not have one attached to the NICU. We have a team of them, mostly based in Mother-Baby, but they do see NICU babies. We also have a full time OT--they can specialize in Neonatology, including feeding issues and can be VERY handy.
fergus51
6,620 Posts
We sure are lucky dawngloves! I can't say enough good things about her. I came ffrom an OB background and consider myself fairly knowledgeable about breastfeeding as I have helped litterally thousands of women breastfeed, but the NICU babies are COMPLETELY different! Oral aversions, congenital deformities, impaired suck reflexes, babies who just want to be tube fed.... It is way more than ordinary breastfeeding can prepare you for! I tell the moms there that even breastfeeding a healthy term infant can be extremely challenging, so there's no shame in needing a little more help with an NICU baby.