Kathleen, you describe our situation perfectly, also. I am a
nurse manager, and an LC, but the hospital does not employ
me as an LC, nor does it seem they intend to, since I have
been fighting for it actively for 3 years now!. They would
rather use me. OUr patients get help from the nursing staff,
whom I have trained, and from me, as time allows. However, I
am fortunate in some respects ( you have to look for the
postive....) in that the childbirth ed. assn. I belong to
pays me to teach BF classes once a month, and the hospital
gives us space and advertises for us. I have been teaching
the classes nearly a yr. now, and the word is just now
really beginning to get around, and the attendance
increasing a lot. Out of frustration , I am beginning
private practice part-time, and still hammering at the
hospital. Many of our moms also leave the hospital without
EVER having had a latch-on. AARGH is correct.
                         Denise