Pat Gima says: "...one of the major problems here is that most OBs don't
have an on-going interest in post-natal babies and how they are fed.
Someone else should be handling lactating breast problems."

I find that that part is a big challenge - helping women to figure out who,
among their own particular group of health care providers, will be the best
and most BF-friendly, to help them when they need it? Obviously, that's one
of the reasons we (the LCs) are here, and a woman who is working with one of
us is already ahead of the game. But when she needs a prescription for a
medication, or something else that I can't really manage for her, a big part
of what I can do is help her figure out which doc (or more often, midwife or
RNP or nurse) will be able to help her most knowledgeably.

That's why it's *really* important to know who's who in our local medical
communities, and to keep track of who's working where, and to maintain good
professional relationships with those who can help when we need them to. I
do this all the time - who's the OB/midwife/ped/nurse practitioner in which
particular office that is either BF-friendly/knowledgeable or who *knows*
that s/he doesn't know and will rely on *my* knowledge? (My "tame" HCPs, as
I sometimes think of them.)

You're right, Pat - it's usually not the OB! But I find that this is quite a
shock to most new mothers; they've "bonded" w/the OB during the pregnancy &
birth. After the months of relying on the OB during the pregnancy, it's a
surprise to them to discover that this person loses interest so quickly once
the baby is born! I figure that part of my job is to help guide them to the
best, most supportive, most well-informed (or at least least-obstructive!)
HCPs around. The other part is to keep up my good working relationship with
that HCP, to foster cooperation. When I do this, I then feel freer to both
steer people away from the "bad" (in terms of BFing) ones and correct
misinformation they give out without too much pussy-footing around.

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY (tap-dancing around docs who say stupid
things about BF less and less these days)

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