Lactation consultants

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Specializes in OBGYN.

hi to everyone here

just out of curiosity. do u have lactation consultants on duty in the post partum wards helping new moms especially? or the its just us nurses?

i work in a different country from us and mommies here are very dependent for us on breastfeeding and stuff so they need constant help. so in our two wards we have two lactation consultants and some classes that moms could attend.

just wanted to know ur practice in US. thanks

khine

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Specializes in nursery, L and D.

We have (at my hospital) a lactation consultant on duty for 6-8 hours a day Monday-Friday. The other times, we are the lactation consultants, which is very time consuming, at times. I love helping moms with breastfeeding, but it makes me so behind some nights. We also offer classes, and a support group, for breastfeeding moms and moms-to-be.

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Specializes in Family NP, OB Nursing.

We have a lactation consultant who is on staff, she also works for the health department in our county. She usually stops in in the morning and asks if we have any new breastfeeding moms or any in labor. She then sees them or returns later to see them. She calls in to check on the weekends and then makes a visit to those pts. She also does at least one home visit after discharge.

She can't be there all the time so all the nurses help too...some of us are better than others and if one nurse doesn't feel comfortable helping she'll ask one of the others to lend a hand. Those of us who brestfed our kids usually have a few more tricks up our sleeves.

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Specializes in mother/baby.

The Women's Center I work in delivers 500-700 babies each month. We have 4-5 full time lactation consultants working on the mother/baby units and have recently hired another lactation counsulant to work 7pm-7am. Still, with an average of 40-50 breastfeeding moms to see each day, there are not enough lactation consulants to help the moms every time they attempt to breastfeed. The nursing staff have all attended breastfeeding classes and are often used as the "first line" of assistance. If we are unable to help with breastfeeding issues we will call the lactation consultant for their expert advice.

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Specializes in OB, lactation.

We don't have any full or part-time IBCLC's on our unit (delivering 1000+/yr).

I'm an IBCLC but I'm employed as an L&D nurse and rarely have the time to help with bf the way I'd like to. The best I can usually do is to make sure my babies get skin-to-skin and feeding asap after birth (some of our nurses are NOT good about doing this).

We have another RN on the opposite day shift who is not an IBCLC but who has had extra training re: breastfeeding and is very good. So we are usually the ones that others come to if someone needs help, but it seems like more often than not I have to say "sorry, I'm just not able to right now". We recently split our unit from LDRP to separate LDR - postpartum and the new postpartum nurses did have an inservice specifically for bf.

It's probably obvious that I wish we had a full-time IBCLC; I think we really need it.

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Specializes in MS, LDRP.

hi,

we only have dieticians that talk to the nursing mothers right now. but, i'm in the process of taking the course to become an ibclc...the closest one is 2 hours away. i will be the first in our little hospital. breastfeeding is big here, and i hope i can make a difference when i'm through.

nanci

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Specializes in Med-Surg Nursing.

As far as I know, the hospital where I work has no Lactation Consultants on staff. They get a lot of medical assistant pt's who dont seem to be real interested in breastfeeding from what I've seen. But we only deliver about 185 babies/yr.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

We have an LC Mon-Friday, dayshift. She is wonderful.

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Specializes in Antepartum Testing, L&D.

At my hospital (about 200 deliveries a month) we have a lactation specialist on duty daily (except weekends) for several hours a day. At other times, it falls to the nurses.

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Specializes in MS, LDRP.

We currently don't have any LC in our area. I'm taking a course to become an IBCLC, and I will be the first like I said. My question is how do I go about working that into my current position as an LD, nursery nurse? My boss isn't sure what we will do either since I will be the first. I think she still wants me to contiune working on the floor as staff...which wouldn't be so bad, but that is less time for LC stuff. There are alot of women out there that will need my help, and like other people have stated, it's very time consuming. If I could just focus on the breastfeeding part, I think our success rate for women who strictly breastfeed and continue to do so after they leave the hospital will rise. :nurse:

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

We currently have one or two LCs during the day from about 0730-1700. They see only problems - too much weight loss, nipple issues, etc. But at night it's pretty much the job of the nurses to help with BFing, which none of us mind but it does take up a lot of time.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Our hospital has two nurses who are also IBCLCs - myself and another nurse. The other nurse has dedicated shifts where she JUST does lactation. She does rounds 4x/week during the day. I, OTOH, work as a floor nurse at night (either L&D or postpartum) and am there as a resource and helping hand for the other nurses if they have patients who need more specialized help. After I return from my maternity leave, I may take on some dedicated lactation shifts, but my main love is working out in the community and would prefer to do outpatient work in lactation.

Ours is a smaller community hospital (1400 births/year). We also have a free monthly breastfeeding class that we teach.

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