Good luck, Carrie--

       Our hospital had a Lactation office built into the new unit when we
went to LDRP. It even had "Lactation Room" written on the sign. However, I,
as the lactation consultant for the past 7 years, have yet to have access to
this room!!! It was taken over by a Perinatal Clin Spec who apparently needed
the room for "her" educational supplies and who works more hours than we do.
I still refer to it as the lactation room, to point out the fact that we do
not have one for our use!! (it is even right outside the NICU--someone was
thinking when they planned it, but the best laid plans...alas!!)

       My thoughts were that you need enough room for a mom to use the room
for pumping in privacy, or for a private consultation with the LC. Close
proximity to the NICU would be needed, if this is the primary use. If you are
just using it for yourself, then you need telephone, computer with Internet
access (so you can research meds and procedures right away when someone tells
a mom that she cannot nurse due to xyz), and a place to store all of your
educational materials. If you are using the office for consults, a nice
rocking chair and stool, or a sofa with footstool would be good to have.
Also, access to a sink is a necessity if you are seeing babies there, so you
can obviously wash your hands in front of the mom before you go poking around
the baby's mouth area!!

Altho we do not have a lactation office or room, we can see our consults in a
room set aside for our Lasting Impressions program (we offer moms to come
back for a full mom/baby exam 2 days post discharge, patterned after
Evergreen's program)...there is a hospital bed and baby crib, lots of closets
& drawers for supplies (sheets, blankets, diapers, etc), a table & chairs
(place for the support persons to sit), a loveseat sized sofa, good lighting
and soft lighting, and toys for older siblings who must come with the mom. A
breast pump is also good to have, along with kits for use. A VCR and lots of
films that show positioning, cup feeding, hand expression and other bf
techniques are also desirable. A few videos that will entertain the kiddies
while you are talking to mom can also be useful. We also have a bathroom and
extra outside sink, as this room was originally designed as a patient room. A
screen to give the mom some privacy also helps.

You need cups for feeding, glucose or sterile water, altho babies do not seem
to like this much. You can't teach cup feeding unless you have some food to
put in the cup!!! You can also ask mom to bring in ebm or formula (if she is
using some) so that you do not have to use the freebies in the hospital
(since we know where they come from).

Ask for the world, and maybe you will get some of what you want/need. Just
hang onto that room, and fight to keep it for your needs. Maybe if you can
show that it can be used as a pumping room, educational room etc you can
justify its use for more than an office.

Good luck! Let us know what you get, so we can live vicariously!!

Kathy Rubin in NJ
IBCLC, RN, BC (Maternal/Infant), APN, C (Family Nurse Practitioner)
PhD student hopng to study lactation issues someday

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