Dear Friends:  I write to you asking for some lactation politcs support and
advice.  It greatly saddens me that the 5th IBCLC in 5 years has just been
run out of town (one chose to leave for a position further away and more
work for same pay).  Our University town, with its 50,000 people, has no OB
floor lactation consultants in the only hospital in town.  I am the only
private IBCLC here, but there are several others--one works for a local OB
group and the rest for home health seeing patients immediately pp at home.
Over weekends, nights and holidays, I get bombarded by calls and if I can't
take them; many moms have to drive to the next town (about 25 minutes).
When I moved here in 1992, there actually was a hospital-based lactation
program, but it and the breastfeeding task force were dismantled 2 years
later.  We have two vibrant and active LLL groups with several Leaders.  Our
local health dept.  (I'm vice chair of the board) says it supports
lactation, but hasn't provided reasonable funding for classes or follow-up
for their WIC clients.  I see many of their patients either on a sliding
scale or free.  The well-trained IBCLC, RN who had just joined the Health
Dept.  about 5 months ago has just recently left under discouraging and
bizarre circumstances (she's on LN and may choose to divulge the details).
When any of us, private LCs, the taskforce, LLL, etc--have requested
resources (additional funding or even space for meetings) from either the
hospital, health dept, local foundation, or a local hcp network, we have
been rebuffed with the excuse that "there are sufficient resources in this
community and no evidence that additional lactation servcies would do any
good or are even needed)."  So, it is out of frustration that I write to you
asking what would YOU do to improve services and raise the priority of bf
here? TIA!
Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC    [log in to unmask]
mom, wife, educator, lactation consultant, researcher, author, organic
gardener, photographer, lapidary creator, lousy cleaner.

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