Dear Priscilla,

I know you feel terrible but I don't think you did anything wrong by
providing breastfeeding information that nurses need to know to do their
job well.  Last year I had a fellowship training program to work in post-
partum.  One of the days was dedicated to miscarriage/fetal demise and
infant loss.  I had a miscarriage only four months before.  It was a very
difficult class for me.  I cried a couple of times during the class and
was an emotional wreck afterward.  That did not make any of the
information less correct or useful.  It was an important topic that needed
to be covered for me to be a good care provider.  One of our jobs as
educator is to provide many different benefits of breastfeeding and
hazards of formula feeding.  You never know what will be the piece of
information that solidifies a mother's committment to breastfeeding.
Nurses need the whole picture in order to adequately support their clients
on the floor.

  Your colleague is grieving the loss of her nursing relationship with her
baby.  I think that by calling and offering your support for this nurse
and new mother you have shown your compassion and positive regard for her
as an individual.  You do not need to apologize for stating the truth
about breastfeeding, but you may want to offer her your support and
understanding during her grief.  I think many women who have not had
satisfying breastfeeding relationships need our support.  We, as
breastfeeding educators, may be one of the few people that can understand
why women would grieve over a lost breastfeeding relationship and
experience feelings of guilt if we are unable to provide the gold standard
for our children.

Just my two cents...

Charity  BSN, RN

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