The scenario is posed:  Baby-Friendly-hospital-based LC needs to give a mom
referral information to obtain a pump.  How should it be done?

Any inquiry regarding ethics requires a look at the facts of the individual
situation.  As some of you have heard me say, the question is:  "Does this
pass the smell test?"  A mom who is two days postpartum and still in the
hospital is much more vulnerable than the Mom who is up, out, and shopping
the Web for the best deal.

Doctors have their own set of ethical requirements; IBCLCs are bound by the
Code of Ethics promulgated and enforced by the IBLCE.  A quick look at our
Code (pull up IBLCE.org) shows several rules that would come into play once
a hospital is making a referral.

Easiest way:  compile a list of all rental outlets in the area, incl. the
hospital's new center.  Throw in the 800#'s for the big pump companies.  The
choosier you are about who goes on the list .... the more open you are to
favoritism charges.   If you cull the list (only LC-run rental stations ...
only DME outlets ... only the hospital's rental station), judgments are
having to be made by the person creating the list.  And that means (which
isn't an ethics issue as much as a pain-in-the-neck issue).

And we all know dozens of ways to nudge a mom into using one of the names on
our politically-correct list.  ("Here is a list of all the rental stations
in the area.  You need to get your hands on a hospital-grade pump.  The
hospital's new center is just on your way out ... it is so nice when you can
avoid that extra stop!")


Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA




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