Mary has written of her concern over the causal dismissal of lactation consultant worth in her hospital system and the possibility of  their elimination. A good place to start gathering resources to provide a rebuttal to this unfortunate misperception is with the US Lactation Consultant Association's documents. Go to http://www.ilca.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4030  and download the publications, Containing Health Care Costs Help In Plain Sight, IBCLC Staffing Statement, and Five Steps to Improving Job Security. These are also available in hard copy from the USLCA office. Lactation services are not extra and while staff nurses may be knowledgeable about breastfeeding, few have unlimited amounts of time to spend with breastfeeding mothers. One study showed that 71% of breastfeeding problems could not be handled by staff nurses. Also be on the lookout for hospitals who outsource lactation services to companies with ill-prepared providers of lactation care as a method of reducing costs to the hospital. You get what you pay for!


Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA  






 

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