I would like to suggest to those of you in private practice to keep a
list of emergency phone numbers (hospitals, mental health facilities,
social workers and so on) within easy reach.  It could save someone's
life.

A woman (whom I didn't know) called me 7:00 a.m .on a weekend requesting
a housecall "right away."  Within a few minutes I realized that this
woman was in serious trouble.
Two weeks pp, she told me "she couldn't take it anymore"
and has left the house (baby left alone) a number of times in fear. The
mother was quite hysterical and spoke so rapidly it was difficult to
understand.  What I could pick up was that I was speaking to a young,
first time mother who is sleeping very little, obessively cleaning all
night.  The baby is having feeding difficulties and "cries all the
time."  There is a lack of support and/or fear of her husband. Her
family lives far away.  There are severe mood swings, she can't can't
keep down food and it sounded to me like she was suffering anxiety
attacks. While I was trying to calm the mother to obtain info where she
lives so I could send help, she began to scream that she is going to
hurt herself and the baby.
I told the mother that I am going to help her and not to hang up.  On
the other line, I called the municipality emergency line.  After
explaining the situation, they transferred me right away to the social
worker on duty.
To make a long story short, we were able to locate the mother and social
services got there in time.  The woman is hospitalized suffering from
severe pp depression.  The social worker told me she was losing reality
and we could have had a real tragedy on our hands.

Although I've gotten calls in the past from distressed mothers, I never
thought something of this magnitude could ever happen to me.  Someone's
life is in danger and you need to act, FAST.  There's not a lot of time
to think about where your resources are.  I know in the States, there is
a general emergency line (911.)  I hope one day there will be one here
as well, but until then, its worth being prepared.

Susan Nachman-Srebrnik, IBCLC
Ranana, Israel

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