Veronica, I'm so sorry you are having such a bad experience trying to help this mother.  I'm always so, so sad when breastfeeding is sacrificed on the alter of ignorance.  I have been involved the last few days with a mother of a one year old who was thinking of weaning, tired of nursing bras, started wearing underwire bras and nursing less and wound up with a wicked case of mastitis and wound up admitted.  The nurses caring for her couldn't believe she was breastfeeding a one year old, told her to dump her milk because of the antibiotics she was on, and were insisting that she wean immediately.   I educated her on all of her options about saving her milk, relieving the mastitis, continuing to breastfeeding, and weaning slowly over a period of weeks to months.  Some how I got labeled as "that nurse who was telling that poor woman to keep breastfeeding when she was in so much pain."  I'm off today and wish I had been able to state my case a little more eloquently.  In any case, I'm in school to be a nurse practitioner.  It seems that providers have all the power and if I really want to do everything I can for breastfeeding women, I need to be able to prescribe.  I would love to see more NP/IBCLCs out there or MD/IBCLC.

Is there a breastfeeding friendly doctor/midwife/physician in your area who you could refer her to?

Anne Nans, RN, IBCLC
Sackets Harbor, Ny





Date:    Fri, 16 Dec 2005 19:14:20 -0500
From:    Veronica Tingzon <[log in to unmask]<about:blank>>
Subject: Pediatricians attitudes toward BF the older baby (LONG)

Dear Friends in lactation,

I am going to rant at something that I need help with. My client has a 14
month old daughter who is still nursing. My client loves breastfeeding and
her daughter loves it too. I asker her permission to post, and she said yes. 

She has gotten her 3rd case of mastitis in 14 months. Not bad considering
she has very tight breast implants. She's always on the go and tired, and
with the implants, she's more pre-disposed to going from plugged duct to
mastitis very quickly. 

She went to her ob/gyn who told her that she would NOT prescribe antibiotics
because she's had mastitis SO many times that she should "look into having a
surgery to help her." WHAT? So, my client went to her plastic surgeon and
asked if he could prescribe the antibiotics. He felt her breast and told her
that although the lump was still there and she still had a temp., she just
needed to keep pumping the breast and massaging it to get rid of the
mastitis. Then he proceeded to tell her that she NEEDS to wean her daughter
because her baby is just "too old" to be on the breast, and with the
mastitis history it's just a "recipe for disaster." So he'll make her
breasts bigger for men to have fun with but finds it offensive that her BABY
might want to nurse?

My client is so discouraged and wants to give up BF because she's in so much
pain. I have been helping her with compresses and massage, but she really
needs those antibiotics and a supportive doctor.

What can I do (aside from banging my head against the wall)to make these
people understand that this baby can and should still nurse? I have faxed
her doctor a copy of the WHO statement on breastfeeding, and she left me a
very snotty voice mail basically telling me that she's the doctor and not to
meddle with her patients. I am hitting brick walls and need a little more
guidance on what to do. HELP! 

Veronica Tingzon, IBCLC, RLC
Oceanside, CA

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