Hi, All:  I have been following this thread with great interest as this
issue comes up periodically during the 18 years I have been a hospital-
based LC.  I started one of the Chicago-area's 1st hospital-based lactation
programs back in 1986 and ran it for almost 9 years before I realized that
working more than F/T as an LC was not very conducive to having 2 more
babies.  I semi-retired (dropped down to teaching a monthly prenatal
breastfeeding class series for 5 years) and am now back to more than F/T in
the hospital setting as the clinical lead for Lactation Services in a Level
2 community hospital which does 2000+ deliveries/year and with a 95%
breastfeeding rate.  Time management becomes an issue when you end up with
a manager who is indeed CLUELESS.  One manager I suffered with for many
years would actually say to my face as well as to the staff that she
couldn't believe that the hospital was so stupid as to waste a paycheck by
paying me to breastfeed!  I now work with VERY supportive managers - 2 of
the three worked with me in my previous life and were involved in the
creation of my 1st program.  wonder of wonders, they hired me in my present
position to travel back in time and set up a program again at my present
hospital.
Unfortunately, even when you do formal time studies for these clueless
managers, they still don't believe the time expenditure it takes to
emotionally support and empower women.  Now that I'm much older and not
necessarily wiser, I find that I can more easily maintain my sanity by
tuning out all the day-to-day crap and just doing the best I can for
mothers.  After all, mothers and babies are what we are all here for.

Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC
Clinical Lead, Lactation Services
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
Barrington, IL  USA

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