Although we are very different than WIC, I want to share some of the things that were a problem in our situation, because we are not an agency and part of our work is in the hospital setting which requires different things.
I am a peer councellor, but a volunteer one - as are all my colleagues. We work under supervision from a doctor - that means we work independently and not in the hospital, but we must report in writing every contact with mom and baby and what suggestions have been made etc and we can refer to the doctor in difficult situations.
Normally we visit mom and baby in their home or communicate on the phone or by email. But when the situation is difficult and mom and baby need a doctor evaluation, we can send them - or go with them, if we wish - to the bf clinic in the hospital. The clinic is actually a room near the NICU where the babies get evaluated.
We also gather together for a meeting once a month in the hospital and then we are allowed to do rounds on the pp floor (long story, but we are pioneers in what we do here, so there is a lot of mistrust and fear that we can actually harm moms and babies, bring infections etc). Of course we are not allowed to bring other babies to the pp floor and we must wear disposable gowns and hats. The irony of the situation is that we visit the pp floor unofficialy quite often when a mom phones and requests help - then we are treated like visitors and don't need such precautions... (but still no babies, which is normal, I think).
So - we used to bring our babies when we go to the clinic for our meetings and when we went with a mom we are working with, until 2-3 moms complained as to why there are other babies allowed in the examination room. The equivalent of CDC in my country states that more than one baby cannot be present in the examination room and if they find out, they have the power to close the clinic. No one pays attention that in the hospital there are always 2 or 3 moms and babies in the same room for the whole duration of their pp stay - but bringing healthy bigger babies together in an examination room is apparently no-no.
We dealt with the problem by doing something like a creche - 2 or 3 of us remain with our babies in a room while the others do the rounds. When one of us wants to be present to the examination of a mom and baby pair she works with to learn more by assisting the doctor during the examination, then the others take care of her baby.
We can freely bring our babies to bf classes in the hospital though - and pregnant moms are delighted to see babies and to get a real picture of bf. Of course babies are welcome to the classes when we teach the new peer councellors too and we have never had any problems. Our doctor says a group of bf babies and toddlers is a different human species - they play together, no one hits or takes toys away, seldom is a baby's cry heard fr a second. You all know that, of course :)
Christina Yaneva
BF Peer Councellor
Bulgaria
--- On Thu, 1/7/10, Liane Varnes <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Liane Varnes <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Peer counselors and babies
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 3:13 AM
> I am posting for feedback purposes so
> lay it on me, oh wise ones!
>
> The subject? WIC -- paid, baby-wearing, Breastfeeding Peer
> Counselors -- and whether it is ok to have the babies at the
> WIC clinic, or not.
>
> They've already been hired and started work. Now, the alarm
> is being raised as to whether it is safe for the babies to
> be there. Otherwise, staff is completely supportive and
> babies have not been a problem.
>
> Has anyone encountered situations simlar to this? I hate to
> reinvent the wheel. This is why I love networking!
>
> Thanks, in advance!
>
> The miracle is this--the more we share, the more we have.
> --Leonard Nimoy
>
> Liane C. Varnes, CLC
>
>
>
>
>
>
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