Jennifer Tieman, it sounds like you are doing SO MANY great things to
promote breastfeeding!!! If only there were more docs like you out
there!!!! I experience the same frustrations here on the Navajo reservation-
-very high initiation rates (>90%), but also very few who exclusively
breastfeed or who continue to breastfeed more than a few months. We have a
huge incidence of baby bottle tooth decay, childhood obesity, and diabetes
here. It is very frustrating. My suggestion is to keep on doing what you're
doing, and remember that your message does get through, and that you can't
control what people do with the information. (I know for me, that is SO
HARD to do!) And when your next baby comes in May (or June), talk about how
you are juggling working and breastfeeding, and how you make it work.
Here are a few other ideas/suggestions:
*Consider having a new mom's support group meet in your office, especially
after you have your child
*When I worked in a pediatric practice in PA, we routinely called
breastfeeding moms on day 3-4 of life to offer support and encouragement,
and as this usually corresponded to their milk "coming in" (I hate that
term), I like to think we helped some women keep breastfeeding who may have
thrown in the towel, and who may not have called for help as the many
formula samples they got loomed at the ready.
*Do the hospitals in your area give out formula discharge packs? Perhaps
writing an order in the hospital that these should not be given to your
patients might help, and perhaps devising an alternative.
*When is your first well baby visit? I think the earlier, the better--
certainly in the first week of life. This way, if there are breastfeeding
problems, you can address them early, before they might give up.
Hope this helps, FWIW. I think you're doing GREAT with all your
breastfeeding promotion--certainly more than most providers I'm familir
with! Keep up the good work!!!!
Trish Donley,RN,ND,IBCLC
Tuba City AZ
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