<If you have never spent a night trying to help a mother breastfeed one baby while you are trying to get a chest tube in to another baby trying to die, you need to spend a little time in different shoes.> You're telling it like I remember seeing it, Diane. Good for you. Though the LC community has benefitted from all the wonderful 1-on-1 time private LC's have been able to spend with clients, and the "non-tech" view of mothering so often espoused, many of them have never spent 8 hours consistently in the "real world(view) of a NICU. It might even be said that they are spoiled. The responsibility and intensity of infant care in the NICU is unimaginable for many Lactnetters. Even providing the care on the postpartum unit is often stressful. I remember feeling as if I were being asked to commit schizophrenia when assigned as a staff nurse to care for 4 NORMAL, FULL TERM babies and their mothers on a mother-baby postpartum unit. I ached as an LC to bend over (?) their bedside and help them a while longer, but as an RN, I knew I had responsibility for meds to pass, new moms to help up to the bathroom, good instructions to give for those bottle feeding, and charts to complete, and maybe a bathroom and/or a meal break to squeeze into 8 hours for myself. Yes, there are no doubt many improvements in attitude, protocols and care necessary for BrF duos in NICU's around the world. But it is still always possible to catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and empathy is part of the art of being a good HCP. Your post provides a much-needed balance for those who cannot even IMAGINE walking in different shoes, much less doing it for 8 hours, day in, day out, week in, week out! Jean -------------------------------- K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC Dayton, Ohio USA ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html