Judy wrote:
"How sad that everyone in a community cannot work together. Do any of you
who work in hospitals make a referral to WIC?  ....but wouldn't it be nice
to give moms ALL the support that is available to them in a community?   How
do those of you who work in hospitals inter act with other agencies such as
Le Leche
League, WIC, health departments?"

Hi Judy,  I am a hospital-based LC.  Through the years, I have developed
contacts outside the hospital so that I can refer moms who need ongoing help
with breastfeeding.  These include WIC, LLL, Ped offices, private-practice
LC's, etc.  I will call them to alert them to the need, then give the mom a
contact name and number.   Sometimes the mom will initiate the call,
sometimes I ask BF support person to initiate contact.  Our discharge
information also includes the phone numbers of many local contacts for BF
help.  Of course, we feature our own Breastfeeding Helpline most
prominently.  :-)

Maybe you could make-up a simple handout sheet that lists local BF support
contacts and give it to each hospital to make copies to use for staff info
and as a patient handout.  It might work best if you personally met with
someone from each hospital to establish a relationship with them as a BF
resource.  You could also use one of your handouts to give to your WIC
clients before delivery and ask them to contact you as soon as they give
birth.  I know it won't work for all of them, but it might help a few more.

Barb Berges BS, RN, IBCLC
Rochester, New York

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