<If you
have never spent a night trying to help a mother breastfeed one baby
while
you are trying to get a chest tube in to another baby trying to die,  you
need to spend a little time in different shoes.>

You're telling it like I remember seeing it, Diane. Good for you. Though
the LC community has benefitted from all the wonderful 1-on-1 time
private LC's have been able to spend with clients, and the "non-tech"
view of mothering so often espoused, many of them have never spent 8
hours consistently in the "real world(view) of a NICU. It might even be
said that they are spoiled.

The responsibility and  intensity of infant care in the NICU is
unimaginable for many Lactnetters. Even providing the care on the
postpartum unit is often stressful.

I remember feeling as if I were being asked to commit schizophrenia when
assigned as a staff nurse to care for 4 NORMAL, FULL TERM babies and
their mothers on a mother-baby postpartum unit.

I ached as an LC to bend over (?) their bedside and help them a while
longer, but as an RN, I knew I had responsibility for meds to pass, new
moms to help up to the bathroom, good instructions to give for those
bottle feeding, and charts to complete, and maybe a bathroom and/or a
meal break to squeeze into 8 hours for myself.

Yes, there are no doubt many improvements in attitude, protocols and care
necessary for BrF duos in NICU's around the world. But it is still always
possible to catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and empathy is part
of the art of being a good HCP. Your post provides a much-needed balance
for those who cannot even IMAGINE walking in different shoes, much less
doing it for 8 hours, day in, day out, week in, week out!

Jean
--------------------------------
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA

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