This is a short comment to add two comments to the posts by several
Lactnetters on the use of the clock in hospitals, to give mothers numbers as
regards how long for each side, between feeds, and so on. 
1) I have never had a clock in the room I use for consulting. It isn't
necessary as I work with the mother to watch for the baby's cues. We talk a
lot about feeding cues and knowing when the baby has finished.  The lack of
a clock is also a subtle statement.  I do wear a watch, which I might glance
at near the end of a consult.  Usually neither the mother nor I refer to our
watches, the emphasis being on infant cues.
I also take babies' needs into appointment times, allowing for a certain
amount of flexibility.  Appointments are spaced to allow for this.
2) A further point is that the BFHI interview forms, used during
Baby-Friendly assessments to the global criteria, ask whether there are any
restrictions on feeds.  A hospital that gives mothers numbers (how many
minutes or hours) is going to have a nasty surprise if they score too low on
this question.  For healthy, term babies there should be no restrictions.
(I'm not talking about sick babies in the SCU.)
Virginia
Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA 
Brisbane, Qld, Australia 
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