Anne Merewood wrote:

"I have found that overall, even if nurses are not keen on BF, they
are often pleased that someone else is, so they can shunt their BF
questions onto you! So you may find yourself the most popular person on the
floor in the middle of the night when none of the other nurses wants to
deal with a BF Mom!"

IMHO, the present problem we have at our hospital is that much of the
nursing staff believes they know all they need to know about breastfeeding.
 After I reviewed their education records, I found that the only nurses in
L&D, PP and the Nursery/NICU that had attended a BF conference was me, our
LC and OB Clinical Coordinator.  Even more concerning is that they attended
large conferences sponsored by formula companies and came back with their
big SI***ac water bottles and En***il note pads and Peter Rabbit buttons.
And we still have the problem of BF babies being supplemented with formula
for the "mom wanted to rest" (oh well at least it's a protein feed!!??)
And yes, if the BF mom has any trouble, they are on the phone to our LC but
they aren't in the room watching what the LC is doing with the mom, which I
think would be part of the solution-learning from the LC.

Next month we are doing a mandatory two hour competency program for the
nursing staff on BF.  I guess they'll learn more accurate information if we
drag them to a mandatory training activity???

Frustrated but getting warmer on the prairie,

Maurenne Griese, RNC, BSN, CCE, CBE
Birth and Breastfeeding Resources  http://www.childbirth.org/bbfr
Manhattan, KS  USA
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