Just an additional thought to this thread. As a hospital LC I find both things frustrating, Mom's lack of readiness for education, and the poor knowledge of the staff, which sometimes the mother mistakenly thinks are LC's. Some days the mother may say to me, "the Lactation Consultant yesterday told me...........", and I was the only LC here yesterday and I know I did not tell her that. Then there is the extreme amount of visitors and the Mom's time spent on the phone. I would love to talk about a lot of things with her, but I am lucky if I see a latch and have the latch and positioning discussion. Sometimes you have 2-3 minutes to talk to her, especially if she has a baby who is feeding well at the time. The staff has mandatory lactation education but many nurses do not come, and how can you cover all aspects in an hour. Nurses also have many other mandatory education sessions to attend on their days off. Breastfeeding education is considered "lightweight" , when the other classes equipment or critical care. Then so many times the Mom's believe the Doctors misguided statements over your correct statement. Although I feel things are better, we still have a long way to go in policing our own (an IBCLC who was certified at another facility 5 years ago asked me what a "CERP" was). We need education of physicians, nurses, and having mothers as motivated to breastfeed, as we are to have them breastfeed.  I guess I am a little testy as I have to study this year for my exam retake and it is frustrating to know what we know, and the some Mom's believe the Doctors and other nurses or relatives.  For all of us who work in this difficult area, we should all give ourselves a pat on the back for the work we do everyday against a lot of odds. One mother and baby at a time.
Dianne Veatch

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