The hospital LC's tell me there is no time to
>hold inservices to teach L&D nurses basics about breastfeeding, hospitals
>hiring all too few of them

This is my point. If the hospital LC spends her time teaching the other
staff, sure she may miss helping some women in the short term - but in the
long term, everyone benefits.

>Lisa brought up the topic of ibclcs seeing only those mothers who need
>'expert' assistance.  I think something we need to keep in mind is the
>differences between Australia and the US.

good point, Denise. While I don't want to idealise Australia, I continue to
be shocked by hospital practices in the US. For eg, I just had some feedback
on the mastitis protocol for the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine from Ed
Newton who told me that in the US women may be hospitalised for mastitis
WITHOUT their baby ;(

however, BFHI is a global initiative and states that all staff helping
mothers and babies breastfeed need training. if some hospitals in the US
have become baby friendly - with time, others can do it too.

stepping down quickly,
Lisa Amir
MBBS, MMed, IBCLC in Melbourne, Australia

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