Dear all:

I have never had a summer like this before.  I have nine REFUGEES from the pediatrician to the stars franchise within two weeks.  Nine really pissed off women who could easily have received proper care.  Nine women who are spending money on me that they didn't need to spend.  Some of those women actually really needed a scale that worked and received improper care because someone either didn't know how to use the scale or the scales were not calibrated.  Yes, when someone has no clue how to interpret a scale or doesn't calibrate a scale it can cause harm.

As a result I've had to schedule a lot of visits for women who really shouldn't have needed me to tell them "yes, your baby is doing fine (when they were told to supplement with formula and CLEARLY did NOT need it) or that "yes, it was a great idea that you went ahead and pumped anyway and now you don't need to anymore"  (when their babies actually were having difficulty removing milk and only temporarily needed their moms to pump) or, "yes, you are right, your baby is still hungry, but you can give your baby breastmilk instead of formula if you pump".  And finally, "no, you are not a wimp because you feel severe pain and your pediatrician thinks you should tough it out like she did".  One woman had her baby weighed on three different scales in the office and was told that they don't really match, but she should still supplement anyway.  

Using a scale and NOT providing the information can also cause harm when the person tells a mother (like the LC in this practice did) "I'm not going to tell you the information because it will only stress you out"  The mother was stressed because she TOLD the mother she should be stressed.  But then by not providing the information the mother is now WORRYING about the information that she was NOT told.  And of course this is a completely patronizing attitude.  Why take the information if you don't share the information.  In this case, the problem is trying to determine whether this mother is truly an oversupplier or what I suspect is a fast sprayer.  In the initial questioning, it sounded like oversupply, until I really delved deep and discovered her baby initially was not taking much and she had been using quite a bit of formula.  At the time she stopped pumping and supplementing cold turkey, she was not pumping more than 1/2 and her baby was taking 1 oz or more of formula.  Her baby was feeding BETTER when she was pumping and now is much fussier.  Her baby does choke and cough and come off the breast.  I have not seen this baby so I will not speculate on which it could be because I canNOT determine that over the telephone. And the mother doesn't feel that the LC in question actually showed her how to tell if her baby was swallowing or not.  So, I will see this mother and charge her money and observe her baby carefully and show the mother how to read her baby's cues AND verify whether or not this is a fast spray and a low supply or a fast spray and a high supply.


Sigh,

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC
Who is shell shocked by the last two weeks

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