In a message dated 2/10/2005 9:42:54 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
We don't usually need supplements, if the staff can keep their own anxiety
from infecting the mother.
Dear Friends:
Thank you Rachel Myr for a fabulous statement.
Andrea Robertson discusses this very thing in her wonderful childbirth
education book, Empowering Women. The fear and anxieties of the staff are a
HUGE barrier to easy birth and to breastfeeding.
Staff, particularly those that work in labor and delivery, are often
very scared. They never get to process that feeling, but carry it instead to the
next situation. This is why things are done 'just in case'. This is one
reason mothers go home lacking confidence; the hospital staff has no confidence
in breastfeeding (or spontaneous, undisturbed birth), so how can they give any
to the mother?
I watched a nurse finish talking to a patient about the lovely gift bag
from the formula company, with samples of powdered formula "just in case you
need it" . Then, it was my turn to talk about breastfeeding after she left.
I didn't say anything to the mother about that because the LCs are hired for
12 hours a week (out of a possible 168), we are basically guests there, not
secure in our place. This mother had just given birth, I have a limited time
to spend, and my goal is to get her skin-to-skin with the baby before I start
any discussion.
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative
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