Marymoomoo

Diffusing essential oils is much different than pouring oils all over a patient (topical use should be used sparingly, and well diluted). Here's some research: "The focus of integrative therapies is on symptom control rather than cure. Nurses therapeutically use essential oils to enhance comfort, relieve pain, promote relaxation, alleviate sleep disturbances, reduce stress and anxiety, improve coping, and increase their patients' sense of well-being.3,4 Let the studies continue so that the scientific legitimacy of these interventions can be assessed further." http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/content/17/2/160.short "Sleep deprivation in hospitalized patients is common and can have serious detrimental effects on recovery from illness. Lavender aromatherapy has improved sleep in a variety of clinical settings, but the effect has not been tested in the intermediate care unit...Conclusion Lavender aromatherapy may be an effective way to improve sleep in an intermediate care unit." Effect of Lavender Aromatherapy on Vital Signs and Perceived Quality of Sleep in the Intermediate Care Unit: A Pilot Study "There were 10,262 hospital admissions during the study time frame in which nurse-delivered aromatherapy was part of patient care. The majority of admissions receiving aromatherapy were females (81.71%) and white (87.32%). Over 75% of all aromatherapy sessions were administered via inhalation. Lavender had the highest absolute frequency (49.5%) of use regardless of mode of administration, followed by ginger (21.2%), sweet marjoram (12.3%), mandarin (9.4%), and combination oils (7.6%). Sweet marjoram resulted in the largest single oil average pain change at −3.31 units (95% CI: −4.28, −2.33), while lavender and sweet marjoram had equivalent average anxiety changes at −2.73 units, and ginger had the largest single oil average change in nausea at −2.02 units (95% CI: −2.55, −1.49)." The effectiveness of nurse-delivered aromatherapy in an acute care setting - ScienceDirect "Conclusion: Aromatherapy with lavender essential oil might reduce depression and stress among hemodialysis patients. Therefore, this method can be used as a complementary method with less complication to improve the quality of life of these patients." The Effect of Aromatherapy with Lavender Essential Oil on Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Hemodialysis Patients: A Clinical Trial "Given its positive effects on hemodynamic indices, aromatherapy can be used as an effective alternative therapy" https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f9b7/8241cd367b3c4d0ac04b53951e7b692a81b8.pdf "In conclusion, the aromatherapy effectively reduced the anxiety levels and increased the sleep quality of PCI patients admitted to the ICU. Aromatherapy may be used as an independent nursing intervention for reducing the anxiety levels and improving the sleep quality of PCI patients." https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/381381/abs/

This times 1000! Baby-Friendly is about supporting moms and babies in the best possible way. If a mom doesn't have family support and she needs to rest, then baby may need to be with a nurse for a few hours. Families should be educated about the importance of keeping mom and baby together, as well as educated about how to keep baby safe in these early days of life (someone awake with baby, someone awake while mom is feeding baby, etc). They should also be educated about the reasons for keeping mom and baby together that have nothing to do with breastfeeding and bonding, such as reduced risk of nosocomial infections! That might be something your hospital could build into their expectant mom packets and teach at hospital tours/childbirth classes. Hospitals aren't luxury inns with daycare. It's not crazy to expect parents to care for their own newborn. They will have to do it 24/7 in a day or so when they go home. They need to understand what that is really like, and gain confidence in their parenting abilities before they take their new little one(s) home without any help around. Self efficacy is very important. If a mom is truly sick or just exhausted, then of course the nursery or the care of a nurse should be available for that. Otherwise, in the arms of a loving family member is the best place for a new baby to be.

@TRJSU I'm a prenursing major. This is an older post, but I have some questions and maybe you could help me out. How would you rate your current experience? Are clinicals nearby? How many hours are you at clinicals each scheduled day? Any tips for nursing hopefuls? Thanks in advance!

IBLCE offers the only International certification in lactation. I would encourage you to look into the pathways. Surely one will work for the program you're taking. IBLCE

Couldn't agree more with the statements here. If you don't need an intermediate certificate, then I, too, would encourage taking the Health e-Learning Breast Ed series. You can get all your hours in on place. It covers the entire blueprint of the exam, which means you will be well prepared to sit the exam when you're ready. If you enroll in the entire course at one time, you get a year to complete it. Also, twice a year they have sales. If you buy the whole series, you get one of them free (save over $100). This happens in January and August, IIRC.

You already have a degree in nursing, correct? In that case, the degree programs would not help you much. What you need is: 1) Lactation Specific Education Hours These can be easily earned online. Health e-Learning is a course that's been around a long time and has a great track record. There are many others. 2) Clinical Experience Hours You can earn these through volunteering (requires breastfeeding experience--usually 9-12 months), through Peer Counseling (WIC hires PCs that have been on WIC and have breastfed at least 6 months), through work (on the job hours working with mothers and babies), through a degree program (you have to find your own local mentor), and through a mentorship. It sounds like you may not qualify to volunteer as a counselor for most mother support organizations. You already have the core classes, so you don't need the degree program. Have you considered finding a mentor? See pathway 3 here: Pathways | IBLCE

remedial Algebra English 102 American History 1 Normal and Clinical Nutrition Health Microbiology and Lab

If you work with mother baby pairs and you assist with breastfeeding, OR if you are a volunteer with an approved organization or a peer counselor with WIC, etc. you can apply through pathway 1 once you have 1000 hours of clinical experience hours. You will also need 90 hours of lactation specific education hours, which can be obtained online and/or through conferences and webinars.

^ditto. Here's some info on how medications pass into human milk: Drug entry into Human Milk | InfantRisk Center And here's the ABM protocol on the use of anesthesia and analgesia during bfing: http://www.bfmed.org/Media/Files/Protocols/Protocol_15_revised_2012.pdf

I'm an IBCLC, and to be honest, I find it a little offensive to be categorized among people who think/act like formula is "poison". That's not a feature of all lactation consultants. I'm not trying to minimize your experience, I'm just saying that's not how we all think. Personally, I think formula has a place. It's a medical food that replaces breastmilk, just like Ensure replaces food for an adult who needs enteral feeding. Infant formula not an exact approximation for breastmilk, but it's the best we have. It has the basic macro and micro nutrients that babies need to survive and grow, just like Ensure has the basic macro and micro nutrients to maintain nutrition for a period of time. Breastmilk is species specific food for human infants. In other words, it is the food that infants are born to eat. It has everything they need to thrive and grow. It contains things that cannot be replicated in a lab, therefore cannot be added to commercial formula. Human milk is not just nutrition, it is part of the baby's immune system. It forms the baby's microbiome, the importance of which is just now being studied and reported. Breastmilk contains growth factors, hormones, antibodies, and even stem cells! It's amazing stuff. A component in breastmilk called HAMLET is lethal to cancer cells. Our bodies protect our babies in utero, and out through breastmilk. Science just can't replicate this. Okay, so you grew up "fine" on formula. So did I. So did almost everyone who is my age. Lots of babies do "fine" on formula today, and some are geniuses and some are never sick. Some breastfed babies are frequently sick. But, you see, all of these are the experiences of individuals and they count for squat when it comes to the data. Even when our common sense fails us (collective)--meaning we forget we are mammals and we make milk to feed our babies--science tells us that in the POPULATION (not individually), breastfed babies fare better. Also add to that, breastfeeding mothers are healthier lifelong including less premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, metobolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, later osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even PPD. Of course, women can choose however they wish to feed their babies. I hope that all women are provided information that helps them make an informed choose, and they understand that choosing between formula and breastmilk is not like choosing between Coke and Pepsi. It's not simply a matter of taste and preference; there are real health implications at stake. These health implications can come from lack of breastmilk (what baby doesn't get) or from the formula itself (such as in the case of contamination). Whether that's easy to swallow or not, it's the truth. As a woman who was formula fed, I don't like thinking about the fact that I might not be as "fine" as I would have been if I had been fed breastmilk. To follow up, I just want to say you are SO right that formula is not poison. Please don't assume that when people talk about why breastfeeding matters that it means that they believe that it is. I certainly don't! I think that formula has a place. I tell moms that decide not to breastfeed to consider at least one colostrum feeding after birth. Baby gets the benefits of the first "vaccine", a big immune boost. Plus good things in breastmilk such as oligosaccharides feed beneficial bacteria that will be part of baby's microbiome for their life. It doesn't have to be at breast, but it's a great way to bond with baby while skin to skin after birth. It helps with expelling the placenta and reducing bleeding, too. Lots of moms are concerned that breastfeeding won't be worth their time since they have to go back to work. It's important to know that breastfeeding doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can breastfeed until you go back to work, or plan to pump for the first few days/weeks back and wean down until you're only feeding formula while you're at work and breastfeeding while you're home. Breastfeeding has to fit into a mom's life for it to work, and there are lots of ways to do that. There's no one right way to breastfeed. Finally, minimize the risk. If feeding formula, use RTF or liquid concentrate rather than powdered for the first couple of months OR use the CDC guidelines for preparing powdered formula. http://www.cdc.gov/features/cronobacter/

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine just updated their protocol on hypoglycemia. "Usual recommendations are that feedings should be frequent, at least 10-12 times per 24 hours in the first few days after birth. However, it is not unusual for term infants to feed immediately after birth in that sacred first hour or two, and then sleep quite a long time (up to 8-12 hours) before they become more active and begin to suckle with increasing frequently. There is always great fear in the postpartum unit when this occurs that all infants, including those with no risk factors for hypoglycemia, will drop their blood sugars. However, normal infants mount protective metabolic responses throughout this time so it is not necessary to try to force-feed them. However, an unusually, excessively drowsy baby must undergo clinical evaluation for other conditions that might be at play. This requires good clinical judgment and assessment so that every normally drowsy infant in those first hours after birth does not undergo any unnecessary work-up that could in addition negatively affect the breastfeeding relationship." http://bfmed.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/newly-published-abm-clinical-protocol-1-guidelines-for-blood-glucose-monitoring-and-treatment-of-hypoglycemia-in-term-and-late-preterm-neonates-revised-2014/

Babies should be kept skin to skin as much as possible. Mother's body is baby's habitat and mothers and babies were designed to stay together. Mother's breasts can increase temp to warm her baby. Pretty cool, eh? When babies are separated, their temperature is much more likely to drop. A drop in temp can also lead to a drop in blood sugars. Keeping moms and babies together makes a difference! Here's some info from the WHO:

There's advocacy opportunities for this cause: Reimbursement for Donor Human Milk for Preterm Infants | agenda

Have you read the actual paper? It's not a study. It's a review. They go waaaay back to the 70's when there was no kind of indicator of how much breastfeeding was going on and for how long. That's just one thing that is wrong about this "study". Read it with a critical eye.

You're correct. This hasn't happened. WIC does not cover the full amount of formula needed in a month, and I'm not sure that it ever has. When their vouches run out, WIC participants have to find a way to pay for the rest of the formula that their baby needs. WIC also doesn't routinely provide formula in the first month. Perhaps that is where the confusion lies? If a mother is formula feeding exclusively, she receives formula as soon as baby is signed up for WIC. If she is partially breastfeeding (and she wants a partially breastfeeding package), she doesn't get formula in the first month. Exclusively breastfeeding mothers never receive formula, but continue to receive food for themselves the entire first year (partially breastfeeding mothers do, too, but in lesser quantities). Exclusively breastfeeding mothers are also eligible for special supplies such as a full-size double electric breastpump if they're returning to work or school. You can read more about the food packages here: TexasWIC.org - Food Packages