On Jul 8, 2008, at 12:01 AM, LACTNET automatic digest system wrote:
> Sadly, I still get moms who are floored when I tell them that
> they will have to pay for a consult...I don't know why they think they
> should get the help for free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
jaye,
i think the avg mom honestly has no idea about the hierarchy of bfing
expertise out there. it is so confusing to a new mom ! when i had my
1st baby, there were the nurses who helped me in the hospital and
everyone said, 'she's the breastfeeding expert nurse, she helps all
the moms and babies breastfeed !' so i hoped/thought she was the
ultimate expert. the next day i was told the 'lactation consultant'
could be asked to come and see me while i was still in the hospital.
was this a step up from the breastfeeding expert nurse ? heck if i
knew, but i'd take any help i could get ! while still in the hospital,
there was never any mention of compensation for her. to this day i
still don't know if her visit was somehow included in the hospital
stay or if my ins paid her fee w/out a problem or what.
then when i left the hospital, there was the person who called me on
the phone for 3 mos after. w/ my 1st baby, would you b/l that i
thought of and called this person a lactation consultant? this person
was actually a breastfeeding counselor, a volunteer. then i discovered
la leche league and tons more knowledge than any of the ppl i'd so far
encountered ! and they were completely free.
over the ( almost 8) yrs of working w/ new moms and babies i have
realized that since advice and help w/ bfing is so proactively given a
new mom, she doesn't think she has to pay for it. and since everyone
sounds like such an expert, she doesn't realize that an LC had to do
anything special to achieve exceptional standards. it's like we've
talked about many times here, if anyone can call themselves a
'lactation consultant' or 'lactation counselor', nobody is going to
know the difference or what it means. i get referred to as a lactation
consultant all the time, every single day. i'm 'just' a volunteer. i
will contact a new mom just discharged from the hosp to follow up on
bfing and a hubby or gma will answer the phone and when i identify
myself as the bfing counselor by the time it comes out of the mouth of
the person informing the mom, they say, 'it's the hospital lactation
consultant' ! easiest promotion i've ever made ! and if i say 'bfing
volunteer', the mom doesn't come to the phone!
we americans seem to like prestige and titles and attach a lot to
them. a volunteer isn't worthy and is probably a cold call trying to
bother you into buying something. a counselor or consultant sounds a
bit better but pretty synonomous to the uninformed and if one doesn't
charge, it's a bit shocking that the other does. and if mom doesn't
have a very specific, technical or medical sort of issue, i find they
feel affronted that they should have to pay for help w/ it when there
is so much free help out there. if a mom perceives it's something LLL,
the local bfing mom guru or a bfing counselor could have helped w/ and
i try to send them to an LC, it comes back on me every time. i find i
have to very clearly explain the hierarchy, what an LC can do that
others can't and why they have to charge or i always get an angry call
back from the mom. i understand, b/c i r/m very clearly being shocked
that an LC would charge me when i needed help and had been given to
understand bfing help was available for free almost everywhere.
i'm still struggling personally w/ where i want to fit in. i'm sort of
the local witch dr/ bfing mom guru and bfing counselor here that
everyone knows of ('that lady that bf'ed 3 of her kids at the same
time and has been nursing forever and works for the hospital!') and
refers to when they don't want to pay an LC. it's just hitting me
lately that it's taking so much of my time up and requiring me to do
so much research that i might as well become an LC and start charging.
but the thought of having to justify myself and my fee every time
someone calls me for help ... the thought of all the betrayed moms and
friends i will have to deal w/ that i have spent hrs and weeks and
months helping and following up on already for free who told other
moms this is how it works ... i dunno, maybe i will just stay a
volunteer and ask moms to cook dishes and bring those as payment !
ps - just want to make it very clear that i always refer up and never
step over the boundaries into LC territory and have managed not to
step on the local LC's toes thus far -in fact, they send quite a few
moms to me... i like to think i'm filling a gap and not languishing in
a rut !
~jacqui gruttadauria, bsw
near detroit, michigan
www.myspace.com/mummaTOwldthings
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