Hello,
At the hospital I work at, we currently have a Mom & Me support group for
moms that meets twice weekly.  It has been a very popular group-we usually
have around 15-20 mom/babies (sometimes more/less depending on the weather)
The group is for all mom's (breastfeeding or formula feeding), but
breastfeeding mom's far outnumber the formula feeding mom's.  We typically
do some Lactation followups (wt checks, latch difficulties, etc) at M/M due
to our limited lactation hours.  Well...our manager (who seems not to value
breastfeeding-another story...) wants to change M/M.  They did
this "community survey" and found that M/M is not meeting the needs of ALL
mom's (survey participants are rumored to have been hospital employees-so
not representative of the whole community-we are trying to find out if this
is true)  Their (this focus group that has never even been to M/M to see
what we actually do) idea is to have A (single) class to discuss baby
care.  We did meet with them this week and voiced our concerns. They then
said they may consider a first month class (mom's would get like three
vouchers or coupons to use in that first month-coupon's gone=out of
luck)   :(    We think the bottom line is the budget and they want to
charge for the class in some way.  Are there any Mom & Me support groups
that charge a fee to attend??  We are afraid many of the mom's won't be
able to afford this and would turn away many others-then when faced with
some BF difficulty will just wean.  We brought up the fact that we would
need MORE lactation hours to see many of these mom's we follow at M/M for
consults-which we can't now due to limited lactation hours.  She quickly
changed the subject-so don't think she is open to this.  We also brought up
that many new moms seem to find it helpful to see mom's with older babies.
An email quote from an IBCLC collegue (Patricia Bluett) who helps with M/M
(used with permission)

"More reasons for having M & M available to moms up to 3 mon.:

As Moms start feeling competent, they share their stories, problem
solutions, etc. with other moms in the room.  Their competence is
confirmed, and other moms gain valuable ideas, solutions, and empathy from
their peers.  The facilitator is available to clear up confusion,
misconceptions, and share information. This often means more to moms than
hearing the same thing from someone who hasn't been in the their situation
for 20 years.

If the group is limited to only 2 weeks post partum, everyone is in the
same chaotic situation and no one has any perspective to assure each other
that there is light at the end of the tunnel."

Any ideas for us??
Thanks for any suggestions!
Roxanne Gollata, RN, LC Intern

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