I certainly sympathize with Loni! I am at that I GIVE UP point myself. I cant get the hospital to budget me enough hours to do everything I need to do, round on the patients, pump rentals, follow up calls , outpatients, staff ed , and on and on..... I spend a tremendous amount of time on breastfeeding at home, I check my voice mail at work from home daily on my days off and return calls without any compensation. I am currently logging this with the plan to take it to admin soon. My boss raves on and on to anyone who will listen about our wonderful LC program , about my web site, the article I co published, the BF coalition I am director of, etc..... but yet the service is not truly available as it should be. I only get about 10 hours per week budgeted, we only do about 30 - 35 del per month, but that still isn't enough. And recently I have had a rash of major breastfeeding problem patients, that are making me crazy..... like the mom who took my prenatal bf class with her husband, and then when she delivered, the baby didn't latch well, mom with meds in labor, flat nipples, nurses gave her shells and pump before I got there, mom insisted in giving baby a bottle, I gave her informed consent about the hazards of giving a baby less than 36 hours old a bottle, suggested alternative ways to suppl if she wanted to, baby was fine, blood sugar was WNL, dad instead on the bottle, several days after d/c mom came back crying and crying that she wants baby to nurse at the breast, I felt like saying "I told you so" but I didn't. She had rented a pump and was bottle feeding the expressed milk up till this point, tried to get baby to latch with a nipple shield, he did ok, but sucked a blood blister on her nipple immediately, I have never seen this , but rarely use the shields, have any of you seen this? So she ended up pumping full time and bottle feeding.......... so sad, cause if she would of waited the baby would of probably nursed on his own, I suggested in the hosp skin to skin, but moms think skin to skin is for 5 minutes, then they stop.... arugh! This mom is a nurse too. Baby also had a marginally short frenulum, when I mentioned this the dad said no way are they cutting my son, I said well you had him circumcised and that is much more traumatic.......... I am feeling a little burn out these days......... Sorry this is so long. Cindy Cindy Curtis, RN IBCLC mailto:[log in to unmask] http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/ ----- Original Message ----- *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html