Hi Lacnetters,
My name is Laura and I am a RN IBCLC at the Baby Friendly Kaiser Hospital
in Hawaii. There was a question posted recently regarding moms who choose
not to breastfeed and "what do you do with them?"

Part of my job in the NICU is to sometimes act as the 'admission nurse'.
Besides attending high-risk deliveries to be available for neonatal
resuscitation we do go over to L&D to do the admission process. Our L&D
nurses are really good at getting the baby onto the breast as soon as
possible but the admission nurse can assist if there are any difficulties
or questions. Personally, I like to be present at the birth because I still
am in awe of the whole miracle. (This is after 6 years of neonatal nursing,
10
years of LLLLeadership and 3 kids of my own,ages 18 years, 23 years and 28
years old).

Usually , when I come across a mom who does not have the baby latched on or
one who has just delivered I will ask her if she is planning to breastfeed.
If she says no or if she is hesitant to answer then I will gently encourage
her to just give it a try. Usually they will say that they 'couldn't
breastffed their other baby because no milk', etc and they will usually
try, and of course, mostly suceed. Some moms will grudgingly try (for my
sake I think) but it is obvious that they don't want to and are not going
to as soon as they leave the hospital. There have been a few complaints to
the hospital that some of us are too pushy and it has come down from above
to be careful of doing that. So, therefore, we do stock ready-to-feed
bottles of abm that we do purchase. It is not stocked out in the open and
it is restocked on the unit in only small quantities. Isn't it a pity that
it is usually the WIC moms who "take advantage" of this freebie.

Thank you for letting me introduce myself and joining in your chat. Aloha,
Laura
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