"I can honestly say, that one L.C. can manage about 10-12 inpatients per day
without significant problems and about 2 outpatients plus 8 - 10  phone
calls. . If you also need to be going to "meetings", faxing info, doing
research, and retail sales, or other committee work then the above numbers
will not work."


When I was a hospital L.C., it would sometimes take me 45 minutes in the 
patient's room to really do a full feeding, answer questions and show moms 
how to get BF going right. Especially if baby was a bit early, c-section, 
and drugged/sleepy. For problem babies, I felt strongly that I needed to 
observe an entire feeding, not just latch and run off. (I saw 8-12 patients 
in 7 hours -- the more I had to see the fewer minutes each mother got.)

As a WIC L.C. now, and when I did private practice L.C. work, I often spend 
1.5-2 hours per client for a full consultation. This involves paperwork 
beforehand, test weighing before and after feedings, writing and giving the 
written care plan, answering questions, maybe showing how to pump, and being 
there for the entire feeding. Then I spend another 30 minutes doing HCP 
reports.

A short WIC consultation is sometimes 45 minutes (baby is doing well and is 
efficient at the breast, or if the feeding goes so poorly that we cut it 
short).

And when I loan a breastpump to a WIC mom with a NICU baby, I am fortunate 
to be able to spend 45 minutes with her, showing her how to pump, how to 
store her milk, how to clean the collection kit, and answering any 
questions. I sit with them through the entire pumping session to make sure 
they are doing ok. Most moms tell me nobody showed them how to pump in the 
hospital or how to clean the pieces or store her milk so I feel I must give 
this much time.

Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC
 

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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