Jessica has shared with us a very frustrating situation regarding the liberal
dispensing of nipple shields in one of her local hospitals. We had a
situation around here a few years ago where a night nurse gave all babies a
pacifier in the nursery to keep them quiet. The breastfed babies were then
brought to their mothers in the morning with a plug in their mouth. This was
done despite the fact that the unit had a policy on NOT using pacifiers with
breastfed babies and that they were to be taken out to their mother at night
to be fed (there was no night-time rooming in "allowed"). I wound up with the
babies who had trouble breastfeeding as a result of this. I had to confront
this situation in order to keep it from continuing. A situation like this and
yours needs to be confronted in a professional manner. First, are you sure it
is the IBCLC who is giving out the nipple shields? Sometimes, understaffed
units have nurses who do this in desperation!

Why not consider asking the IBCLC out to lunch and discuss your concerns.
Describe the outcomes of some of the mothers who have received the shields.
Perhaps offer to leave your number or the number of another LC in the
community where these mothers can be seen upon discharge. Maybe one or more
of the affected mothers would come with you and describe the problems she is
encountering as a result of the use of the shield. You and the affected
mothers always have the option of writing a letter of complaint to the
hospital. But before doing this, maybe a discussion would help.

There is a place for nipple shields. Many of us use them judiciously with
wonderful results. The last baby I used one with was a baby with
tracheomalacia who could not breathe and feed at the same time! We put
together a feeding plan and nine months later the baby is still breastfeeding
and no longer needs the shield.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html