Darillyn wrote:
> Those LLL leaders were actually in a position where they could have made it
> so that my first two babies had the benefits of nurturing at the breast and
> a significant amount of breast milk, until they were ready to wean, like my
> last four did.  They just couldn't tell by what they saw and heard from me.

This is a good point! I am assuming that these experiences with the LLL Leaders was
quite a few years ago. Speaking from my experience as a LLL Leader for 8 years (and
counting...) I have to say that considering that I have so much contact with
breastfeeding women, it is astounding that I actually see very few breasts! As a
Leader, I did not get "hands-on" practice or training in evaluating
latch/positioning. The focus of our preparation was in reading about positioning and
being able to convey this info over the phone (without the benefit of
demonstrating), and of course practice in supporting mothers emotionally.
Personally, once I became a Leader, I took advantage of every situation in which a
mother invited me to a home visit, because I wanted to learn more about
breastfeeding by observing a variety of mothers and babies. Many Leaders are much
more interested in providing information and support than in offering in-person
hands-on help. So thank goodness for good IBCLCs!
Now that I am an IBCLC as well, I encourage LLL Leaders to offer to go on home
visits so as to have contact with moms who are having breastfeeding challenges, and
I offer to come with them (as an IBCLC wearing a LLL Leader hat) if they would like.
While being a LLLL does prepare one for being an IBCLC in many ways, it's the
hands-on stuff that I really needed to experience!

So back to Darillyn's point, I find that many mothers are easily overwhelmed with
new info, and especially in a case (such as adoptive nursing) where the Leader may
not have had any personal experience, or any real training, the Leader may not feel
comfortable offering "too much" info. We are cautioned about "meeting a mother where
she is", which often means not setting up high expectations about the success of BF
in very challenging situations (such as adoptive breastfeeding). I think this has
changed quite a bit within LLL, esp in the past 5 years, as there is much more focus
on "nuts and bolts" of BF. I am truly sorry that you, Darillyn, didn't find the
information you needed at the time from LLL.

Have other LLLL/IBCLC combos found this as well?

~Virginia Bobro
IBCLC, CD(DONA), LLLL
Casco, Maine




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
http://photos.yahoo.com/

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

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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