Elise You have asked a loaded question. I have worked with some good LCs who felt it was the LC's role to do the 'normal' bf stuff, the basics, because no one else would do it right. With this attitude, the bf stuff gets dropped entirely on the LC's lap, who can't possibly 'do it all' and therefore burns out, and more to the point, the other staff don't ever learn what they need to know and don't do what they need to do for bf dyads. In my opinion, as I have stated before, the LC is a specialist and in a hospital setting she should be dealing with lactation consults. Not going about teaching every mom the basics of bf and assisting with regularly getting babies positioned and latched. She should be doing specialized things and also f/u calls, outpatient consults, weight checks, etc. Also very important is staff education. The hospital *should* be baby friendly and the whole hospital culture *should* be bf favorable. There is no need for the LC to assist w/ position/latch/normal teaching, as the whole of the maternity staff, even the housekeepers, will be knowledgeable and helpful. This is not where most hospitals are, but this is where they should all be. This is not how I currently practice in hospital, but it is how I would like to practice. Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN New Orleans Louisiana, s.e. USA _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] 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