Good morning All,

Some musings from a very tired LC who is tired not only from lack of sleep
and health issues, but also from what I continually see in my (and others)
community.

Re: Beating down of Medela and Prolacta.  Had they both been Code Compliant
and ethical there would be no issue.  However, that has been far from the
case.  Medela continues to flaunt the Code in our faces for what?  To sell a
few more bottles and nipples?  And, their personal pumps have gone from
being a true valuable tool to nearly worthless wastes of money.  Sure some
moms can pump just fine with them - but perhaps those are the moms who can
also look at their breasts and say "Express Thyself!" and get milk flowing.
The pumps don't work well or quit functioning properly within a couple
months of purchase - Moms complain to Medela with little result.  I (and
others) complain to Medela with NO results.  I had a mom whose Symphony
rental wasn't working properly and then flat out quit working - and she LOST
HER SUPPLY by 1/2!   Medela didn't care - and I have seen repeated problems
like this with the Symphony.  For them, it appears it has become all about
the Money - and they are making it hand over fist - while in the process
making themselves look good by paying for lots of research.   And they will
continue to do so until the public wakes up and realizes - oh wait:  The
public has yet to wake up and recognize Nestle as a major problem.  I think
Medela will be Just Fine.

As far as Prolacta - they too will be just fine because they now have lots
of money and lots of stuff going on to help continue their deceptive
practices.  I would not have had an issue with them or anyone who assists
them had they simply been HONEST.  Many of the moms in my area were shocked
to learn that a local collection station for Prolacta made MONEY on their
DONATIONS.  These moms were NOT happy that they had not been told this.
Lack of informed consent anyone?   And many others have been left furious
about the 'donate to Africa' scam as well.  Moms all over the country donate
all that milk to go to Africa only to discover (if they are lucky to find
this out somewhere since Prolacta does a good job of hiding the info) that
only a tiny amount of the total donated actually GOES to Africa??  AND
worse?  They find out (if they are lucky) that the rest of their DONATION of
love goes on to make Prolacta $$???   Where are the ethics there?

It comes down to ethics - and sadly the USA Big Business attitude is "Screw
you if you don't like us screwing you.  We want your money and we will do
what we have to to get it - including - lie."

As far as IBLCE requirements - I am done taking Interns for the most part.
I have a mom who would be an incredible IBCLC - but she is coming in from a
grass roots position.  I don't know if it will be possible for her to get
her IBCLC in 2-3 yrs.  The assistance for Mentors is not the greatest - and
the medical-mentality is becoming more and more apparent in the training.
And on some levels this is fine - but there must be made an effort to keep
those of us who are NOT RN, and do not want to be RN or in the medical
field, able to just as easily get what we need to take the IBLCE exam.

I am currently working on a way to leave private practice if possible.  Why?
Because as much as I love home visits (and being the only private practice
LC left in my area that I know of) - it is more and more difficult to take
care of those who need help.  The hosp based LC programs and WIC are not
training the LC's on staff to recognize birth injuries and structural issues
and so far too many babies with serious structural issues are being missed.
Moms go back for several repeat visits and told repeatedly - Hang in
there...he'll get there!  The LC's mean well - but they are missing the fact
that without treatment - baby WON'T get there.   Dr's repeatedly tell
parents with these babies that they will 'grow out of' whatever issue they
have.  Yeah - tell that to the mom when the kid is 12 months old and can't
sit up by themselves, can't crawl...etc. and is now in intensive physical
therapy that hurts like hell for the next couple years.  And ALL that could
have been avoided had the LC's and the Peds had some basic education on
structural issues and how to correct them - and WHY to correct them at
infancy.   How many babies have I seen with severe structural issues that
were missed by well meaning LC's due to lack of education???  Far too many -
and it is wearing me down.  The lack of initiative to get the education on
how to evaluate the baby's body is staggering to me.  It has been offered in
my community (even for free!!) by myself and my colleague who does the
structural work on the babies I work with time and time again and NO ONE
takes up on the offer!  I don't get it.  We don't care who they go to for
treatment - we just want the issue recognized and you can't recognize it if
you don't know what you are looking for.

I don't know where our field is going and to be honest it doesn't look good.
To me it looks like we will go the route of all the other medical
professions and be beholden to the Insurance companies and held to some
pathetic medical model of care.  And those of us who are on the outside of
that will either continue to fight the fight or shake our heads and walk
away.  When I first started in this career there were many PPLC's  - now
they all work for someone else or have moved on to other careers.  I love
what I do, but the stress of fighting is wearing me down.  If I have to deal
with one more parent this week (whose baby has a posterior tongue tie and
breastfeeding is NOT going well) who has been told by their Dr or another
untrained LC - That frenulum is a little tight but it isn't causing any
problems with breastfeeding - Don't know what Jaye is talking about - it
doesn't need to be clipped - I will scream!  And If another parent comes to
me with a 7 month old failing to thrive because it was missed in the first
couple weeks that baby had serious muscle tightness and was living on let
down...(this boy is scrawny and has only gain 8/10ths of an ounce in 2
months!!!)  I'm going to scream again!  I have offered repeatedly to teach
others FOR FREE how to evaluate the body - and when to refer for treatment.
No takers.  And then another LC states she will not refer for treatment
until 6wks to 6 months to see if the baby will out grow it??  And we wonder
why I am discouraged?  

Respectfully...tired and feeling burnt out lately.

Jaye Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM
Breastfeeding Network
Sacramento, CA
www.breastfeedingnetwork.net

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome