This is my first attempt at requesting assistance via Lactnet, I hope someone
out there can help. My name is Cindy Kenyon RN MSN, I am a first time parent
nurse working with military families through home visiting. My partner and I
actively support and encourage breastfeeding moms in our practice. We
currently have a project underway to turn our hospital into a baby friendly
hospital. To achieve this goal we have to write proposals and justify the
cost-savings benefits in terms of prevention. I am currently working on a
request to have the hospital employ a lactation consultant to assist all
breastfeeding moms and provide breastfeeding education to the professional
staff. To do this I need your help.
If anyone out there can direct me to references to justify the cost of a
lactation consultant, also I need a job description for a hospital -based
consultant, and the best methods to collect data to continue to support the
position. Our problem at this AF base is not adequate initiation rates for
breastfeeding but improving our continuation rwhich are very low. We have a
family practice residency program here and as you have probably experienced
our professional staff is really ignorant about handling breastfeeding
problems so they really hamper our efforts. We have about 100 deliveries a
month and my partner and I do the best we can to help but we don't have the
experience that a lactation consultant does nor do we have the time from our
primary roles to meet all the need for help. If you could e-mail me with some
advice I would appreciate it, thanks!

Cindy from sunny Florida