<<  I have been told
 (by a fellow IBCLC) that I should not give the moms any information that
 might make it appear that someone else on staff might have done something
 incorrect or given wrong information. >>

okay, let's see if i understand this correctly. this means, if the nurse gives
the anesthesiologist the wrong weight for the patient, which might cause the
anesthesiologist to give the wrong amount of drug, and if you are standing
within earshot you should NOT point out the error? if someone on the staff
tells a mother something wrong, should you  not, as a professional, and
because of the ethical requirements of your profession, or perhaps because you
are ultimately responsible for the ethical concerns involved, TELL?

are you saying you are not supposed to give out correct information? what
could happen if you did - might a breastfeeding relationship be saved? might
unnecessary supplementation be avoided? might someone else on the staff need
to learn more about what he or she is doing?

at just exactly what level should you "tell"? when it is life-threatening but
not when it is merely embarrassing to someone else? how seriously do you take
this breastfeeding stuff, anyway, those of you who work in hospitals? you
won't give correct information to your patients in order to cover somebody's
ass?

don't worry, i have already observed the answer.

anne, because you are asking about this, and because others who work in
hospitals have mentioned this, you are obviously disturbed by this and don't
wish to comply. you are struggling with an ethical dilemma.

you just have to think about what this means and what you get for it. in other
words, if your silence is being bought, are you getting enough for it? just
think about it that way when another mother leaves your institution not
breastfeeding her baby. maybe you should run out the door after her and remind
her of how her baby will be sicker and less intelligent, etc. or maybe
somebody might be embarrassed if you tell, and the mother will just have to
figure it out on her own.

don't worry, though, i have clients all the time who figure this stuff out.
except for the occasional client who gives birth at home, ALL my clients have
been seen by "an lc" at the hospital. and you know what? they get very, very
angry about the bad information they were given. just because they don't all
return to the hospitals and have "a chat" with the kind of nurses and LCs who
separate mothers and babies and give ABM to babies before their mothers can
breastfeed, them,  doesn't detract from the level of their anger.

carol brussel IBCLC