Thank you to all who have responded about my dilemma with using nipple shields. I think the difficult part for me is lack of support for families. We don't have enough lactation consultants to see every breastfeeding family in the hospital. And the support after going home is inconsistent.
I have decided 2 things based on your imput:
1) Focus on educating our staff to use nipple shields appropriately with follow-up by one of our LCs prior to discharge. I need to impower the nurses to improve their own lactation practice and include them in this process. No dictator rulings!!
2) Focus on educating LCs in the community. We have a community support group for any LCs who want to join. It's called the Greater New Haven Breastfeeding Round Table and includes hospital LCs, doulas, LCs that work in pediatrician offices and in private practice or clinics. We meet monthly. I think it is helping all of us to see that differences in our practices does not mean the families are getting "wrong information from that other LC". We started this group to help us give more consistent lactation care. I will make sure the nipple shields are discussed at our next meeting. A community approach can only help with follow-up care after discharge from the hospital using nipple shields.
I want you all to know that I got more email responses directly to my email address than through lactnet. I think that shows (no surprise) that we are still conflicted over nipple shield use. Some of us were not comfortable letting the lactnet community see that we are using nipple shields. But I can say that everyone who responded is thoughtful about their use. I'm proud to be a part of this caring community.
Marie :>}
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