The standard I try to meet in my work as LC is to listen to the mother and be the baby's advocate. This sometimes brings me in a difficult situation, when mother's and baby's needs seem to differ or even be opposite. Still, both are equal in priority to me. The LC is in many cases the first HCP to really listen to the mother, ask for her views, worries, fears and complaints. But the baby needs someone to speak up for. Someone needs to formulate his needs and challenges and in many cases the LC is the first to do so. 
In my experience the only time moms and babies are being heard before they come to me is by a LLL leader. *in general* other HCPs don't listen to mothers (or patients in general) and they don't see, let alone prioritize baby's needs. There are HCPs who do listen to moms and see baby's needs, but they are few and wide apart in my region.

Warmly,

Gonneke, IBCLC, LLLL in souther Netherlands

Diane Wiessinger <[log in to unmask]> wrote: While IBCLCs have an official Code of Ethics, we all also operate according to our personal codes of ethics, which have more to do with our practical lives as LCs.   

One tenet of mine, for instance, is always to leave a mother feeling more confident and more optimistic than I found her.  Another, I've gradually realized, is to take care of myself (my personal code seems to extend beyond my precise professional duties... but then, the IBLCE Code does as well). 

What are some of *your* tenets? 

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA 
www.wiessinger.baka.com 


  Met vriendelijke groet, 

Gonneke van Veldhuizen, IBCLC 
lactatiekundige
  

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