General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Mayor Bloomberg pushing NYC hospitals to hide baby formula so more new moms will breast-feed [View all]xmas74
(29,670 posts)the hospital brought in a lactation specialist to work with me while still a patient. This was done as a service of the hospital-the lactation specialist spoke to every mother, even those who did not breast feed. Before I left she gave me info for Le Leche League. I called and a member actually came to my house, free of charge, my first week home, to be sure that I had the help I needed. (My child was a bit lazy at latching.)
A coworker and his wife had a baby at the same hospital on the 4th of July. He said that many of the nurses employed at that hospital are now certified as lactation specialists. (He recognized a few of them as recent graduates from our local university-they even spoke with his wife about how to certify herself, since she is a nursing student.) And he said that, though LLL is no longer in this county, they gave him info about the nearest group (25 minutes from here) as a matter of course. He said that he called for his wife and within a day they had already called back, asking if she would like a free consultation in their home or if they'd like to meet other local moms who are also nursing.
The info is out there. The difference is in how it's presented. (FWIW-I live in a smallish town-about 25,000-and they are really pushing breast feeding here. The old nurses who used to push bottles at the babies when mom slept have since retired and formula is only given if mom signs a consent form.)