Attie
This is a very difficult situation indeed. The letter almost seems like a
fake or a "fishing expedition" as some would say to see how the LC will
respond to these "accusations." If your colleague has not already responded,
she should do so very carefully. Note some of the statements (I put in caps)
which seem full of hostility and propaganda like "I departed from each
consultant with MY LITTLE WRITTEN PLAN in hand feeling more and more
dejected and like a failed mother. AFTER ALL, BREAST IS BEST." and "After
two weeks, I stopped pumping and tube feeding and BEGAN FORMULA FEEDING,
still feeling like a failure, until I noticed that MY SON BEGAN TO THRIVE
IMMEDIATELY." Also, Note the first doc missed the hematomas too "Some
answers arrived at the first visit to my family doctor after 10 days of
birth. He felt that my son may have a receding jaw, which would make
latching on nearly impossible. We later were referred to a pediatrician OVER
ANOTHER MATTER (what???) who diagnosed him with subperiosteal hematomas."
The mother goes on "Why did these extremely experienced consultants fail to
suspect an anatomical problem..." Attie, Of course your colleague cannot
answer this. And why is the mother writing to her now anyway and not
directly confronting the LCs who she worked with on these issues? The mother
then says "I feel that I was extremely poorly served by these consultants
and their lack op knowledge. All that I gained from them was a profound lack
of sleep, an $80 pump rental bill, undue stress and deep guilt feeling that
WERE REINFORCED BY THE PROPAGANDA POSTERS in their consulting rooms WHOSE
SUBTEXT CLEARLY STATES that breastfeeding is best and that to do otherwise
is negligent parenting."
Now to respond to this, one must assume the writer is genuine (altho I
wonder....). So I would respond something like this (taking a long time to
think and write the letter in reality):
Mrs X,
I am sorry that you had difficulty breastfeeding and I hear in your letter
how disappointed you are. Not knowing all the details, I won't try to
second guess any of care you received. I can only say that my practice is
based on three simple concepts which are 1)make sure the baby is being fed
adequately - expressed breastmilk is the first choice if baby is not taking
it directly from the breast. The parents would choose the method of
delivering the feeding after the options are discussed with them. 2)Keep the
mother's milk supply protected - this is extremely important and a medical
grade pump is very effective for this. And 3) get the mother and baby
breastfeeding again - this can take alot of time, sometimes several weeks.
While all this is occuring, I would be reporting to the primary health care
provider as well. The parents would always have major input into the plan of
care and be able to accept or reject any of the options offered.
I could not tell from your letter whether you are breastfeeding now or not.
If you would like to re-establish bf or would like any further help if you
are now bf, feel free to contact me. If you would like information on
standards of practice for lactation consultants, contact the International
Lact. Cons. Assn at xxx.
Laurie Wheeler, RN, MN, IBCLC
Violet Louisiana, s.e. USA
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