I am literally just back an hour ago from a fabulous ILCA conference in San
Antonio. Not having enough learning about breastfeeding over the last four
days (!) I decided to take a peak at Lactnet to see what was up, although I
haven't been reading it regularly in many months.

This thread caught my eye, and I quickly read through the many varied
responses. Great ideas to get us thinking about what we do in the hospital
setting, and in all settings in which we work.

I, too, work part-time at a hospital. In my position, we are expected to see
all moms (although if it's busy, we don't always see the mothers identified
as bottle feeding). When I do go in the room of a bottle feeding mom, it is
in much the same way as has been presented, simply identifying who I am,
asking if they have any questions about breastfeeding, and reviewing safe
and appropriate options for dealing with engorgement. At least a couple of
times I have found a mother who is planning on breastfeeding, but just
couldn't deal with it right away, or who had questions I could answer.
Regardless, I try to genuinely congratulate the parents, remark on their
beautiful baby, and wish them all the best.

At the ILCA conference there was a plenary given by the founders of Best for
Babes (www.bestforbabes.org). I found their talk absolutely fabulous, and it
really got me thinking about the work we do. Part of their approach is to
support ALL mothers. Most mothers want to breastfeed, and if we support all
mothers and work to remove the "booby traps" that get in the way of
breastfeeding, more mothers will breastfeed.

Please, I invite all of us to check our judgments about mothers and provide
support to all of them (in whatever professional and personal capacity is
appropriate for us). I think that support will come back to us multiplied!

Warmly,

Lisa Mandell, MBA, IBCLC
www.best4both.com (not related to Best for Babes!)
Havertown, PA

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