Rita,
I think this is a very difficult situation, and I would probably practice
saying some very open-ended questions (I almost wrote "open-minded
questions" and I think that's a part of what I want to say!). Things like,
"I was surprised when you edited my handout. Will you take me through your
thought process?"

Hospitals need business to stay open. We are a non-profit hospital, and I
know part of my job is to offer excellent classes so that people want to
come. Excellence includes "Freedom of choice based on knowledge of
alternatives" as the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA)
says in their motto. And that is what it seems to me you are working to do.

I would ask myself:

1) Are we giving excellent lactation advice and support here? Are we able to
offer that advice and support to every mother?

2) Am I doing people a favor to send them to LC's I don't know well, who may
not practice the way we do at this hospital (with our excellent program!)?
(And I hope they are IBCLCs! A minimal competency!)

3) Why does the manager want me to make my list smaller? Why should people
not know where they can rent or buy pumps? (My tone here is not on the
defense or offense - maybe there is a reason in her mind, like, "They will
sue us if the pump is crummy")

4) Does my area breastfeeding coalition (call WIC for contacts) have an Area
Resource List that I can distribute? That way at least I"m not using company
money to let people know about other companies, and it becomes a more
neutral handout.

I work hard to make my heart open enough to include all my "competitiors" on
my handouts. It's a real challenge in a rural venue, where really the pie
isn't big enough for us to slice it very much. But with MCH monies drying up
in so many ways - along with hospital monies being very tight in most places
- it is very worth talking to your manager. And her goals for your classes
may be different than yours....That's worth knowing about too.

Hope this helps in your thinking. I have very free rein here but know I'm
always walking a tightrope.

Dawn Kersula MA, RN, FACCE, IBCLC
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Birthing Center
in southern Vermont USA

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