Joy 

<(BTW, as an aside, this, in addition to 
hospital LC clinics, has virtually killed private practice for many 
LCs out in the community, as they have to charge fees, and therefore 
encouraged some of us to branch out into other related areas - or to 
train as midwives.)>

Just wanted to agree with your statement above - being one of those private
practice LCs who have 'retrained' to become a nurse then midwife because I
was burnt out :-) only to find that breastfeeding really was still my
passion underneath it all.  I now work in a hospital breastfeeding clinic
and also as a breastfeeding project officer neither of which would have been
an opportunity before. Branching out has been one of the best things I did.
It feels odd to be well into my 50s and to feel that the 'career' aspect of
my life has just taken off!  

I am not sure that the hospital LC clinics killed my practice though.
Unfortunately I just couldn't cope with the isolation of private practice
along with the unknown nature of when mothers would call - this despite
doing it for approx. 14years. If I could have charged enough to cover the
wages of a person to field calls and do some of the paperwork I probably
would have kept going but the fees and consistency of work were not
feasible.  

Some of the benefits of working within a hospital breastfeeding centre has
been:
*someone else deals with the money - there is so much time spent in PP
working out the income, expenses, tax, etc
*there is always someone at the centre to support on days off
*set days of working and not feeling 'responsible' to see a mother today (I
know some people are good at saying no but this was not one of my strong
points)
*not being emotionally involved when woman rings and wanting to give lots of
free advice over the phone because I couldn't see her quickly
*someone else looks after the purchase of equipment
*mothers can have follow up appointments and I don't feel as though I have
to cover too much in first session
*back up of sterilising equipment at hospital
*colleagues to discuss things with (e.g. is it really another tongue-tie?)
*greater range of problems and demographics
These are just benefits to me personally but of course there are benefits to
families as well. 

Congratulations on finishing the first degree in your new direction/career!!


Shaughn Leach RM IBCLC DipT
Perth, Western Australia

  

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