<<Rooming in.  It's not the hospital or the nurses or the admin who are
objecting here: it's the PARENTS!>>

Thank you, Wendey! From previous Lactnet posts regarding "hospital LCs," I get
the feeling that some of the non-hospital-based people just don't understand
what we have to deal with. I know the frustration of trying to educate other
nurses is scream-inducing. (Someday I'm going to print up a bunch of posters
to hang in nurseries: "A 1-day-old baby does not have colic! She wants her
mother!") But to me, it's nothing compared to the frustration of trying to
explain to tired (although not too tired to entertain all their friends and
relatives), often-crankier-than-you-would-expect new parents that, yes, I know
they just took the baby back to the nursery but he's hungry and needs to eat
again -- and yes, this is normal and, what a shock!, even desirable. Too many
of these women -- exemplified by the recent post about the woman who sued
because her epidural didn't take, and by the "Babywise" adherents who expect
the baby's needs to fit into their own, more important schedules --  appear to
want no inconvenience whatsoever.

I worked in "regular care" nursery and postpartum for years, but finally
switched to NICU because I got burned out investing a lot of time and
enthusiasm on parents who didn't want their babies at night. My NICU certainly
has PLENTY of its own frustrations, but at least I'm consistently dealing with
mothers who are committed and who are taking responsibility for their choices.
To those of you in the postpartum trenches, I'm grateful you're there, and you
have my utmost respect!

Jennifer Herrin, RN, IBCLC
NICU nurse, Tulsa, OK