Pat-
And besides, new mothers and new babies shouldn't have to be out running
around and trying to cope with this huge, complex bureaucratic stuff anyway.
Germy offices or ER? Even worse, DSS (Dep't of Social Services)? WIC
clinics...birth certificate registration? It's so complex and confusing. I,
a well-educated native-born speaker of the language and a professional in
the field for many years, have a hard time keeping track of who's supposed
to go where, by which date, and what papres need to be filed in which office
within how many days, not to mention how to get to these various required
appointments - yet we expect poorly-educated folks who frequently may not
speak English, who may not read well, who usually don't have the luxury of
private transportation, who often are very young and/or totally confused or
sometimes a little "off", to drag their newborns around all over the county
to try & do what they're supposed to.
It used to make me furious to see the new mothers, often only 3 or 4 days
post-op from a CS delivery or perched gingerly on the edge of their chairs
because of painful episiotomies,trying to manage their bundled-up newborns
fresh out of the hospital, and maybe a couple of antsy newly-siblingled
little kids as well, waiting (sometimes for a couple of hours, if nobody
happened to take pity on them and sneak them in ahead) in the WIC clinic.
Talk about germ exposure! Talk about a place where a new mom and babe should
not have to be! It just makes you weep!
And then they get labelled as "bad mothers" for having their babies out in
public so soon. You never see the more fortunate women out dragging around
like that. The LC comes to them at their homes, their necessary forms get
filed pretty smoothly and automatically, they have telephones so they can
work out the glitches at home by phone, they have cars that function so they
can go to their doctor's appointments, they are more likely to have a
partner to help with any running-around that needs to be done. If their
babies need to be transferred to the level III NICU about 30 miles away,
they can drive there daily, and they can afford to stay in a near-by motel,
or, because their grammar is good and they are comfortable talking with the
nsg staff, a sympathetic nurse may arrange for them to stay (free!)in the
old nurses' quarters. The neonatologist will arrange to meet them at the
hospital or talk with them by phone, and is much more likely to treat them
respectfully and provide explanations they can understand. Poor women who
don't have working cars used to be able to take a taxi to see their babies,
at Medicaid expense, but now that is no longer an option (public outrage,
dontcha know), and when they don't show up at the NICU daily they get
labeled as having a bonding problem or being inattentive mothers, and before
they know it they've been turned in to Children's Protective Services for
neglect. They are more likely to be treated as half-wits, if the doctor will
talk to them directly at all...It goes on and on.
What does this have to do with BFing? Well, connect the dots, and it's
pretty clear why the same families whose babies are most at risk are the
least likely to breastfeed "successfully".
Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY
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