In a message dated 97-01-27 14:30:01 EST, you write:
<< Lots of OB offices have the practice of giving moms free samples of
ABM..... I sure wish I knew how to stop it, but as of yet I dont..... if
anyone has any ideas, please eblighten us :) >>
This is something that worked for our hospital, I guess it may work for an OB
office??? My first & only daughter was born at our local hospital 2 1/2 yrs
ago. The day before I was discharged I received a diaper bag to take home. I
knew what the usual practice was, working for WIC, and having a neice born at
the same hospital 3 wks earlier, who was breastfeeding. The ABM was removed
from the bag & given to BF moms, including me. A couple of months after I
delivered I sent a letter & the bag, with all the info & items included, to a
hospital administrator (I got the name from 2 people I know that work there
of who to contact). I explained in the letter that I was confused about
their support of BF. I said that I was glad they had an LC on staff, who at
least can see some of the BF moms, and figured they wanted to promote BF. I
listed each item (& the bag itself), and how it was detrimental to BF, and I
was wondering where they really stood on the issue. I asked her to please
examine the contents of the bag herself to see what she thought. Who knows,
maybe she had no idea of what hospital was passing out & promoting!
I guess this ruffled some feathers! Wondering if my letter would even get
noticed, I guess she took it to the Ped section meeting. While her response
was in the mail to me, my Ped called me & told me the rest of the story. Her
letter said it wasn't the hospital's policy, but the Ped's have standing
orders to give their pts these bags. A couple of the Peds actually took a
stand & the group unanimously voted to cease giving out the bags--to ANY new
mom--ABM or BF!!!! The one real stubborn Ped, just hands them out at his
office now at the 1st visit (not sure if BF moms get anything or not???).
Anyway, I can still hardly believe my ONE LETTER made a difference! My Ped
said that I would never know how many moms I prevented from switching to
ABM--with my letter! ;-)
I guess that what I have learned from this, is that if a customer/patient
makes the complaint, it will probably get more attention. And of course, the
more, the better. I have used this in other instances (like telling moms that
get poorly made pumps to take them back to the store where they got them, &
if they get enough returned, maybe they won't stock them anymore!). Maybe
this one post, will make a difference somewhere, if someone else writes a
letter!
Sandy Arnold BS, IBCLC
Bloomington, IN
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