Thank you one and all, for the immunity reassurance and info.
What GOT me, was the doctor actually saying "getting immunity from
breastmilk is a myth." Argh.
The hospital where my daughter had her baby boasts a breastfeeding
initiation rate of nearly 100% . The LC's I met were telling me they
don't know why their numbers drop off so fast.
After the experience with this particular pediatrician, I think I can
tell them why---
At that first visit, the moment we walked into the exam room, the
office nurse walked in and slammed 2 different formula sample packs in
the baby stroller (and they were huge gift packs). When the doctor
said, "you know, it's OK to give him formula once in a while," and
made a "joke" about her "needing a break,"
we just looked at each other -- so much for baby friendly and code
compliance outside the hospital. (BTW: We've never told them I am an
IBCLC.)
When my daughter handed the sample packs back at the front desk as we
left saying, "Give these to someone who really needs them." I wish I
had a camera, from the look on everyone's face, no one had ever done
that before.
Actually, the whole thing with this pediatrician has my mind reeling.
This was my first personal contact with a pediatrician in the
"private" sector in over 25 years. I was mortified and deeply
saddened. However, this limited experience concerns me. Is it
possible that the "private sector" hasn't changed since I was fighting
to help moms breastfeed despite pediatrician road blocks or standing
in front of the pediatric committee of a local hospital explaining
that I wasn't competing with pediatricians, 30 years ago? I am afraid
of the answer.
I have no tolerance for ignorance and even less for outright stupidity
these days, I'm sorry to say. I admit this pediatrician probably
isn't the "norm" but then again the stories I hear from moms...
At Kaiser we were fortunate. Moms have access to the LC's in the
clinic at any time. Moms are made aware of how to contact us
throughout their pregnancy and that is reinforced after delivery in
the OB/GYN and Peds Clinics. Lactation Consultant's teach the Early
Pregnancy Class.
I can't help thinking here we are, as a profession, concentrating the
majority of our efforts into the Baby friendly Hospitals and code
compliance; when the hospital has the mom maybe 2 or 3 days maybe
(here in the USA) and not much effort is put into to changing the
after-care environment. Outside of the Kaiser system, and other's
like it; no matter how we look at it, we really have very little
time, or opportunity, to support the moms once they leave the
hospital. In my area, the hospitals have grabbed up the private
practice IBCLC's. Mom's would be hard pressed to find an IBCLC not
connected with a hospital or a particular doctor's office. (Very often
when an IBCLC is associated with a particular pediatric practice, they
can't see patients outside of that practice; or doctors won't refer a
patient to another pediatric practice for fear of loosing the patient).
I guess my point really is --- What is being done outside of HMO's and
WIC clinics to reach these doctors? And let's not forget their office
staff. The office nurses are the what I call "gate keepers" (because
mom has to go through them to reach the doctor) they have a lot of
power and influence. I can almost guarantee they are handing out
breastfeeding advice every day and not always sound breastfeeding
advice.
What can we do? What should we do?
Marie Davis RN IBCLC
p.s. I recently read the article "Talking about Breastfeeding: Why the
Health Argument Isn't Enough.”" (long article but I recommend the
read) The study left me with a few different approaches to prromoting
breastfeeding and some new vocabulary. http://bmsg.org/pub-
issues.php (I have no financial interest in the article.)
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