Laurie,

Would the LC be willing to ask the moms "What did you plan to do when you
were pregnant?"

This has been a question that has helped moms when they were really
overwhelmed...  I learned it from a Public Health Nurse I work with.  She
says she understands if a mom she sees, who is often 3 - 5 days postpartum,
says "I'm bottle feeding" and she doesn't try to "sell" breastfeeding then
(in fact, we have found that if we try it then, it seems to not "stick"
much longer than our visit.)

However, if the mom says "I had planned to breastfeed, but ... (the baby
wouldn't latch on, or I had to take medicine or whatever...) it gives her
an opening to help her meet her own goals...and moms consider this as a
"cooperative" venture.  Then we evaluate her situation and provide her with
information based on what she can deal with (pumping, SNS, whatever) at the
moment.

It's worked quite a few times! 

Jeanette Panchula, RN, IBCLC
Vacaville, CA

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html