Pam writes of her experience with a mother being treated with the
inappropriate antibiotic then being told it is natures way of telling her
she shouldn't breastfeed.  Hmmmmm I can understand your extreme difficulty
in writing a letter to this person which maintains professional
standards.  I'll leave the assistance with that to people who are far more
politically astute then I am too.

I must say though that I wouldn't have held my tongue to the mother re the
inappropriateness of the antibiotic.  This is knowledge which I have and
withholding that knowledge has caused the mother more morbidity.  Now I
didn't cause it, but I could have helped to resolve it a lot quicker by
sharing my knowledge with her... and I think that that is well within our
scope of practice.

There are nice ways to do it without being unprofessional about the person
who did the prescribing too.  For instance, just giving her a copy of Dr
Jack's article on Blocked Ducts and Mastitis is excellent patient education
and Dr Jack is then the one who states very clearly which antibiotics are
appropriate and which aren't.   From my recollection you didn't see the
woman before she went to her doctor, pity, because that would have been the
best time to give it to her - so she actually arrives at the doctor's
having read it and having it in her hand.  And even a short discussion
about the antibiotic she will most likely be prescribed will have her aware
when the doctor reaches for the script pad - maybe even avoiding the
situation in the first place.

Hope you get some good examples of letters to send, which are shared on
Lactnet - it always helps me to read the wisely chosen words of the ones
who are best at this.

Denise

*************************************************
Denise Fisher BN, RN, RM, IBCLC
BreastEd Online Lactation Studies
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.BreastEdOnline.com

*************************************************

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