In a message dated 11/21/0 1:33:53 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:
<< Yes, LLL has 24 hour service; however since Leaders are volunteers and
usually mothers with children, a middle of the night phone call will
disturb the whole family. Why not suggest a call earlier in the day?>.
I have had only a couple of late night calls as a Leader and they have either
been from mothers I was working with who really had debated calling me, but I
was glad they did, as most mothers delay calling until first thing in the
morning, when, sometimes they shouldn't have. Other calls have been from
people who didn't realize they were calling a home. I remember wondering
where they imagined I, as a volunteer, would be in the middle of the night.
<<Many times women have been concerned about "the problem" all day and now
they wait to call in the middle of the night?>>
I think you are right about that, but I also think problems seem bigger and
more unbearable in the middle of the night. So, the problem the mother was
concerned about during the day becomes enormous in the middle of the night. I
wonder how many mothers start suppplemental bottles in the middle of the day,
vs late in the night?
When my first son was born, I had a ped who told me "never wake a
sleeping baby". Well, even though I had a homebirth, he was very sleepy for a
couple of days. The *night* my milk volume increased *dramatically*, I could
not get my baby to nurse. He tried, but only latched onto my nipples, which
cracked and bled as he and I cried most of the night. I waited through one of
the longest nights of my life until I thought it was an acceptable time to
call a Leader--7am. She told me then that I could have called in the night,
and I wish I had. What she told me to do worked very quickly and worked have
worked in the night, too. It was one of the reasons I became a Leader.
<< How many physicians enjoy being awaken in the middle of the night? - and
they are getting paid for it - and well. >>
I absolutely agree, but, in all honesty, I would rather a mother call me in
the middle of the night than most ped's, since I am far less likely to
suggest she solve her problem with the free AIM she brought home from the
hospital.
<<In 18 years of LLLLeadership, I have gotten maybe 2 late or middle of the
night phone calls and neither one was an emergency. In fact, one woman said,
"well I was just sitting here feeding the baby and I was wondering....." Well
I was asleep with my nursing baby at the breast all warm and cuddly. Wouldn't
it be nice if people thought about these things in advance?>>
Mary Kay, I really do understand your perspective on this, but I think it is
the nature of new motherhood in our culture to lose your sense of timing, to
feel uncertain about what issues really require help, to be even less certain
and more alone late at night, to lose perspective about the normal, daily
routine of others around you and to ultimately seek out those who seem most
accessable and least threatening. As a Leader for 10 years, I have always
told mothers, (as have my many co-leaders), that I would rather they call me
in the middle of the night than feed a bottle out of desperation, fear, etc.
Calling LLLL's in the middle of the night is certainly not the ideal
solution. But it may be the best option in some situations. IMO,
mother-to-mother support--meaning family and friends actually being reliable
resources for one another is the ideal solution. Aside from that, I think the
kind of info available from community to community in hospitals and from
ped's may make LLL in the night an appealing resource.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
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