Mothering › Forums › Breastfeeding › Lactivism › ohh... I am so mad.... (update post #16)
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

ohh... I am so mad.... (update post #16)  

post #1 of 18
6/22/06 at 11:44am
Thread Starter 
A while ago I went to see a new ped in the area and she was the worst person I could have met and tried to give me the worst advice... of course she didn't know that I am a breastfeeding counselor and I know what I am talking about...

Anyways... I have a few moms that I follow and support through breastfeeding... our program doesn only offer support when needed but we also do follow up calls and follow the moms that call us until they no longer need us...
Well a few of the moms that I have gotten have been calling crying because of bad and very conflicting advice they got from this monster...
A woman called me today and said that she is worried about her dd not gaining enough... the ped has her comming in every 15 days to weight her and is making her freak out...
Then of course she tells the mom that she has to switch breasts often because all of the protein in in the foremilk ???!!!! Tells the mom that at 10 weeks her dd should be sleeping through the night and should not have to eat at night and to just let her cry! Tells the mom that she is very worried about the weight gain (the baby was born at 6p 4 oz, went down to 5p 9 oz and was back up to birth weight in a week and now at 10 weeks is 9p 10 oz) she has the wet and dirty diapers, she has a good tone and is flourishing and is following her growth curb perfectly)
Not only has this mom come to me but many others with the same complaints... just tons of bad breastfeeding info... Supplementing until milk comes it if not baby will starve, not feeding at night by two months old etc...
I have to say that often we have to let things slide because sometimes moms don't always hear things right etc or at least any complaints that we make will not be taken seriously... but now it has gotten to be too much... I have had more then a few moms with problems and I have had the experience myself... so I KNOW that this doc is the problem...

So I called the center I volunteer at and told the secretary the problem and she was flabbergasted (she is part of the governing board at the center and had to get breastfeeding training also) and told me that she would pass the message along to the director and she would call me back... I know that the nurses union have already planned or had a meeting with this doc because of all the bad info and the director meets with them once a month so I know that this will go somewhere... I am just so mad!!! She seems really nice and so many people love her so I can't imagine how many moma nd babies are getting bad info and being made to starve and CIO from 2 months on!!!

I could just scream!!!!
post #2 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:11pm
Yikes. If that many people in your community are being given bad advice, perhaps this doctor needs to get reported. From the sounds of it she is giving advice that could have major health consequences in these babies. Having a meeting is a good place to start, and I hope that this changes that doc's ways. My LC has had similar issues in our community with doctors being uninformed and mostly uncooperative with breastfeeding mothers. One of the ped's in the practice we take our son to told us that "breastmilk doesn't have any real benefits after 6 months". :
post #3 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:25pm
Thread Starter 
It just makes me crazy because these docs are seen as Gods... the hospital is working on becoming baby-friendly so they have to take things a bit seriously but then again there is a doctor shortage and she is well liked by so many and it would be hard to replace her...
She also hasn't gotten the breastfeeding training she is supposed to get for the hospital to become baby-friendly.. and she really doesn't help with the breastfeeding rate...
post #4 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:37pm
I'd like to say I can't believe a doctor would be so uninformed about breastfeeding, but I hear similar stories all the time
post #5 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:38pm
I'd like to say I can't believe a doctor would be so uninformed about breastfeeding, but I hear similar stories all the time
post #6 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:40pm
Eep! Sorry about the double post!
post #7 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:46pm
Talking to the ped directly probably wouldn't help, but I wonder if you could go to whatever medical board or association oversees drs in your area. Maybe you could get together with local LLL leaders and LCs, put together some established facts about successful breastfeeding practices which this dr contradicts, express your concerns, and ask the board to contact the dr. Maybe they could ask him to update his BF information or attend an instructive seminar.
post #8 of 18
6/22/06 at 12:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamabadger
Talking to the ped directly probably wouldn't help, but I wonder if you could go to whatever medical board or association oversees drs in your area. Maybe you could get together with local LLL leaders and LCs, put together some established facts about successful breastfeeding practices which this dr contradicts, express your concerns, and ask the board to contact the dr. Maybe they could ask him to update his BF information or attend an instructive seminar.
I went to the head of the center were I volunteer from and she meets with the board of nurses at the hospital every month... and they aere the ones that already were dealing with complaints...

There is no local LLL and no local LC's... we are it... so I am going through the right channels... but everyday more and more moms are getting bad info and it makes me mad...

To get the title and recognization of being a baby friendly hospital the doc has to have the same training as others (the training that I went through also)... however, she says that she is "too busy" and that she is a doc so she already knows what she needs to know...:
post #9 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxye
she is a doc so she already knows what she needs to know.
That pretty much sums up the whole problem with doctors like this one, doesn't it? :
post #10 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxye
To get the title and recognization of being a baby friendly hospital the doc has to have the same training as others (the training that I went through also)... however, she says that she is "too busy" and that she is a doc so she already knows what she needs to know...:
Well.... obviously not
post #11 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:24pm
Thank god those women are coming to you. I feel very : about the babies of the mamas who don't know enough to realize the information is BS. To those nurses for being willing to speak to the doctor, I hope it makes a difference. I wonder, are they willing to give your info to people who have problems?
post #12 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:24pm
:cry: about the doc

to you for doing something about it!
post #13 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sapphire_chan
I wonder, are they willing to give your info to people who have problems?
We are actually the breastfeeding resource in the area so the moms get a list with the names and phone numbers of us volunteers (we are 5)... We also have a close enough relationship with the nurses since we are invited to give the pre-natal classes when the focus is on breastfeeding...
We have a really good relationship with the nurses so they always promote our services...
post #14 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:53pm
The really frustrating thing about it is the damage done not only to these women's babies, but to society as a whole. These are the women who will go out and claim that they tried to breastfeed but just couldn't. That their bodies didn't make enough milk, that their babies were allergic to their milk, that they just *had* to use formula. Thereby reinforcing the idea that a large percentage of women actually can't breastfeed. And then they get angry at lactivists who make them feel "guilty" by promoting breastfeeding. And then these children will grow up with the idea planted in their heads that some women just can't lactate and that formula is just as good. It's a nasty nasty cycle.:

Laura
post #15 of 18
6/22/06 at 1:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sijae
The really frustrating thing about it is the damage done not only to these women's babies, but to society as a whole. These are the women who will go out and claim that they tried to breastfeed but just couldn't. That their bodies didn't make enough milk, that their babies were allergic to their milk, that they just *had* to use formula. Thereby reinforcing the idea that a large percentage of women actually can't breastfeed. And then they get angry at lactivists who make them feel "guilty" by promoting breastfeeding. And then these children will grow up with the idea planted in their heads that some women just can't lactate and that formula is just as good. It's a nasty nasty cycle.:

Laura
ITA and join in with you
post #16 of 18
6/22/06 at 3:54pm
Thread Starter 
update...

The director at the center that I volunteer at called me back and said to call the head nurse in charge of the family unit directly, since it would be easier and more precise (less heresay etc...)...

So I did, and I told her all my concerns and she was great... she took down the list and we talked a bit... she then said how she is going to go about approaching the issue without making a big deal of it so that the doc is not automatically on the defensive... first she is going to hand out the new WHO chart with the breastfeeding growth curb to "remind" her if she hasn't seen it yet so that breastfed babies are looked at against a chart that is made for them....

Then, in a joking matter, she is going to say something like "can you believe that someone has been telling moms that babies should be sleeping though the night at 2 months" and then talk about how is can be detrimental to the nursing relationship/ mom's supply etc... and she hope that it will open the way to other conversations about breastfeeding... It also seems that she was with the doc when she gave really bad advice to a new mom... of course since she is "just" a nurse she couldn't say anything....

It seems that they really like the doc because she is good at finding problems
that others seem to miss or can't find... but her breastfeeding info sucks...
post #17 of 18
6/22/06 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxye
Tells the mom that at 10 weeks her dd should be sleeping through the night and should not have to eat at night and to just let her cry!


Quote:
Originally Posted by paxye
To get the title and recognization of being a baby friendly hospital the doc has to have the same training as others (the training that I went through also)... however, she says that she is "too busy" and that she is a doc so she already knows what she needs to know


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sijae
The really frustrating thing about it is the damage done not only to these women's babies, but to society as a whole. These are the women who will go out and claim that they tried to breastfeed but just couldn't. That their bodies didn't make enough milk, that their babies were allergic to their milk, that they just *had* to use formula. Thereby reinforcing the idea that a large percentage of women actually can't breastfeed. And then they get angry at lactivists who make them feel "guilty" by promoting breastfeeding.
Exactly!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by paxye
Then, in a joking matter, she is going to say something like "can you believe that someone has been telling moms that babies should be sleeping though the night at 2 months" and then talk about how is can be detrimental to the nursing relationship/ mom's supply etc... and she hope that it will open the way to other conversations about breastfeeding...
Perfect! What a wonderful ally!
post #18 of 18
6/22/06 at 6:30pm
Hope the nurse gets the message through - keep us updated.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Lactivism
This thread is locked  
Mothering › Forums › Breastfeeding › Lactivism › ohh... I am so mad.... (update post #16)