Anne wrote:
>Hospital staff are not managing these moms and babies over the next few
years like I am, so they don't see the long-term impact of
handing out these shields.<

This, to me, is crux of the matter,
Hospital staff, including IBCLCs, are rarely able to spend more than a few
minutes with each patient, and the nipple shield is the quick fix. Even
when adequate teaching is done with regard to monitoring the baby's intake,
knowing how and when to discard the shield and so on, there is rarely
follow up after discharge.

What we need is more coordination between in-hospital and outpatient
resources. Of course this is one of the steps of the Baby Friendly
Initiative, that mothers be referred to appropriate resources on discharge.
And this is where both private practice IBCLCs and mother to mother groups
come in.

Norma Ritter, Breastfeeding USA Counselor, IBCLC, RLC
BreastfeedingUSA.org
www.NormaRitter.com

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