Forgive me if this has already been posted to Lactnet - I haven't been
keeping up.

-- Jodine Chase
PS - http://www.bfnews.blogspot.com is also not current but I expect to
start posting news items again shortly.

http://www.newstribune.com/stories/081703/opi_0817030005.asp

> Lactation consultant needed
> From our readers
>
>
> Dear Editor:
>
> We have heard with dismay that the full-time lactation consultant position at
> St. Marys Health Center has been eliminated.
>
> Breastfeeding matters. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United
> Nations Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) have made breastfeeding education
> and promotion an international health priority. WHO estimates that more than
> 1.5 million infants die every year from illnesses that could have been
> prevented or reduced in severity by breastfeeding. Although the greatest death
> rates occur in developing countries, families in Central Missouri and
> throughout the United States also lose the health and lives of precious
> children.
>
> We are a coalition of community members who support women as they breastfeed
> their children. It is obvious to us that the quality of experience at St.
> Marys has changed for the better during the time that the hospital has
> employed a full-time, certified lactation consultant. As a result women are
> more successful in breastfeeding and they, along with their children, are
> healthier because of the success. Women come away from their childbearing
> experience at St. Marys happier because of access to lactation support.
>
> We are aware that St. Marys is dealing with financial hardship and that
> employees are losing their jobs. It is obvious to us that positions should be
> eliminated only where there is redundancy. There is no redundancy in lactation
> support. Having a well-trained expert available to provide women with
> evidence-based information in the first days of motherhood is critical to a
> woman's success in meeting her breastfeeding goals. Mothers put an inordinate
> amount of trust in the information their medical caregivers share with them.
> If this information is false and unhelpful it weakens a mother's ability to
> succeed at breastfeeding. A woman in this situation may believe she has failed
> and her confidence in her mothering abilities will thus be undermined.
>
> We believe that access to an international board certified lactation
> consultant during a hospital stay for childbirth is a standard of care. It is
> no less essential than accurate information about diet and exercise after a
> myocardial infarction.
>
> We respectfully and urgently request that the administration of St. Marys
> Health Center reconsider its decision and immediately reinstate a full-time
> IBCLC. We welcome dialogue regarding breastfeeding support in Central
> Missouri.
>
> Ann Owens, president
> Breastfeeding Coalition of Central Missouri

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