The most helpful thing a physician (pediatrician) can do to promote,
encourage and/or support breastfeeding is to ask mothers how breastfeeding is going
for mom, sore nipples, baby latching well, staying awake during feeds, and so
on. If mom tells her pediatrician she's having trouble, then the pediatrician
should have referral sources available and have mom call from the office so
pedi knows help is available and that mom has followed through. The few
pediatricians I know who do this often save breastfeeding and prevent use of formula.
The most detrimental thing a physician can do is to ignore signs of
breastfeeding difficulties and just instruct formula supplementation without even
considering supplementing with mom's own milk, nor referring mom to lactation
specialist.
An example from my private practice, young, first time mother who states to
pedi that her baby can't latch so she's pumping and feeding him by bottle and
baby's doc just says ok, end of conversation. It was her mother-in-law who
nursed 11 children that got her help.
Best of luck, Kelly, and hope you hear from many others. Your time is
limited so you really need to make your words count. A very salient point which
relates to above is to help pediatricians realize (don't get me wrong, many do
already) that it is a dyad they are working with, not just the infant. If one
has problems, so will the other.
Barbara Latterner, BSN, RN, IBCLC
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