I'd like to thank Tina Smillie for her recent poston "baby-led" latch.  So
that's what you call what I've been a firm believer of for the past 25
years!  I often get criticism from both LCs and nursing staff for not being
hands-on enough.  A mom and baby do not need an LC or staff nurse at the
bedside for every single feeding.  What will mom do once she's home?  I've
often had moms ask if they could take me home with them and I (laughingly)
tell them they can't afford me.  The act of nursing consists of 2 people -
the mother and her baby.  Everyone else (including the LC) is unnecessary.
What is required of the people in the mom's life is HUGE doses of emotional
support/reassurance.  Something LLL has been preaching for years!  Once mom
has been educated on how to nurse (the mechanics) she must be left ALONE
with her baby to practice.  In the hospital setting, this means rooming-in
24/7.  Over the years moms have told me that the help in the hospital was
wonderful, but they wished they had just one feeding alone (without a nurse
or LC hovering) in which to practice.  I believe the focus should be on
educating the mother on all normal newborn behaviors, not just feeding
behaviors.  I am looking into getting my staff NCAST (Nursing Child
Assessment Satellite Training)trained.  Their site is www.ncast.org.  It
really helps to round out your practice to have some training in
developmental assessments and NCAST is a good one because one of the
assessments is on the interaction between mother/baby during a feeding.
Not only does the examiner learn a lot about where the baby is at, so does
mom.  Sorry for the long post, but I got so excited that someone else out
there thinks like I do.
Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC(UCLA-trained)
Clinical Lead, Lactation Services
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
Barrington, IL USA

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