Realistically, if one doesn't know how to latch a baby on, or doesn't 
really know much about breastfeeding, as a hospital nurse it would be 
easier to recommend mom use formula. Or to say pump and bottle feed. If 
you have 6-8 babies to monitor and maybe one who is not doing well, you 
probably don't have more than five minutes to work with the mother.

I am coming to think that the problems mothers encounter with poor 
breastfeeding help is often laziness combined with a lack of knowledge. 
Meaning that most nurses and it seems like plenty of LCs just do not 
know how to help someone latch a baby on correctly. Or when they are 
busy, it is easier to say pump and bottle feed.

I work for WIC and am totally frustrated by how many "LCs" are calling 
our clinics demanding we loan a pump to a mother for whatever reason. I 
also find that NICU staff (nurses and "LCs") rarely assess a mom for 
commitment or how much and how often she is pumping when having low milk 
supply. Sometimes we are called by hospital staff before they have even 
brought a pump to the mom's room or showed her how to work with her 
baby! And many times the moms call us for a "free" pump saying the 
hospital told them to get a pump but when we assess her feeding goal, it 
is to bottle feed and always has been and she has no interest in BF help.

And it isn't just WIC moms, as I have talked with too many mothers who 
were told to pump and bottle feed by an "LC" who could not solve their 
problem or guide them into getting more expert help.

No wonder moms give up so easily. But I wish they would demand that they 
receive decent help from someone who knows something. They just assume 
the "bad" help is all there is. Or that breastfeeding is just so 
difficult that no one can help.

Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC
 

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