Anyone ever had BAD advice from a lactation consultant?

I was to preface this by stating that I think that good lactation consultants are worth their weight in gold! They can be the best gift to a breastfeeding mom! When a mom is having problems, baby isn’t gaining weight and other issues arise, LCs can completely turn your breastfeeding relationship around and allow for months and years of breastfeeding that otherwise may not have happened.They can discover problems and solutions that only an expert can find. They truly can create and sustain a breastfeeding relationship that otherwise may not have happened.

But what I want to talk about today is when you get BAD or WRONG advice. People who support breastfeeding (as I do! HUGE!) are reluctant to admit that there is bad advice and professionals who are doing more harm that good. As with ANY medical advice, the purpose of this article is to encourage you to trust your instinct (which can be scary when you are a new, first time mom) and get second onions when you feel you are not getting the right care. I have heard the story over and over when it comes to moms and their babies with medical choices…about medicines, procedures, vaccines, and even breastfeeding. They just didn’t “feel right” about the recommendation. It didn’t “sit well” and they “went against their gut”. Standard protocols do not fit all moms and all situations. Get educated! This is the best way to protect yourself and your family when it comes to any health issues!

THE STORY: I had terrible breastfeeding advice with my first child. I gave birth is California, so a LC did standard rounds in the hospital! How amazing is that! All moms should be afforded this type of breastfeeding support in the hospital. But for me, this service turned into a nightmare. When my little girl was born, I wanted to breastfeed immediately, my child was taken away and not given back for an hour (but that is another story for another time). But even with this situation, she latched quickly and was a good nurser. My colostrum was in and we were doing beautifully.

But at day 3 there was a tiny bit of pink in her diaper and she was losing weight. This is where it went downhill. The hospital LC was called and I was told baby was not getting enough and my baby was starving. I hear this story by SO many new moms! The lactation consultant told me I had to get my milk to come in faster and had me pump for 20 minutes after every feeding which had to be every 2 hours. Day and night. I was told to supplement with formula starting immediately. I was terrified.

I was sent me home.

That was it. No pump until…, no quit supplementing when…, no end date, no nothing.

What I was NOT told is babies who are born when you are hooked up to IVs will have more water weight and therefore drop more weight when they are born. This is not talked about, or even perhaps really “known” by the medical community. This was, in fact, quite NORMAL. But it was treated as an emergency, and as a new mom, I was freaked out and would do anything to feed my baby. I was not told that pink in the diaper at day 2 or 3 is NORMAL and is not in itself indicative of a problem. I was not told that supplementing with formula could lower my supply and sabotage my ability to breastfeed at all!  So I went home with free formula samples and a “standard” pumping protocol.

My daughter took nearly an hour to eat each time as she was two weeks early and was slow. So, I would feed for an hour, then pump for 20 minutes. Then I would have 40 minutes and start all over again. I developed a terrible oversupply problem (which I had a tendency to I found out anyway) and developed terrible mastitis and forceful letdown. My little girl was crying all the time, pulled off the breast and crying more. I started going a little nuts and thought that the noise from the pump said “have hope” “have hope” over and over while I pumped day and night. I cried all the time and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. My breasts were painfully full all the time and I leaked constantly. Was this normal? Was this what breastfeeding was like? How in the world did people do this for months and years!?!

Exhausted, sick and spent, I finally went to another lactation consultant that I paid for out of my pocket. Best money I ever spent. She told me to stop pumping immediately. To start block feeding. She advised me baby was sick all the time due to forceful letdown and oversupply. My situation was so severe that I had to take antihistamines for a few days to calm down my supply. My little girl got better. She stopped crying and I got sleep. The LC was astounded that I would get this kind of advice from the hospital because of normal fluctuations in the baby’s weight and appearance of slight dehydration at day 2-3 just before your milk comes in. She was unhappy that I would get advice to pump that often with no evidence that I had any supply problem at all and never had an “end date”. To me now, it is like prescribing antibiotics and never telling you to stop. Just keep taking and taking them!

I did call the original LC company once my child was better to talk about my experience. I was told they gave me this “free advice” at the hospital because it was “standard protocol” if baby was losing too much weight. My baby never dipped below the 10% loss rate that is the “cutoff” for normal. (If you even agree with this philosophy). In fact, I had no signs at all that I needed any intervention at all! To top it off, they get you started for free at the hospital but then I had to PAY for a follow up at the tune of $90 by the same group to try to get well. When I told them my story, they never said this was a bad call. They said they would not change that advice to future moms or consider it differently. ALL moms were to be treated as though they were having UNDER supply problems in that scenario. I don’t think I will be the last mom with this story…at least at this hospital. Considering my situation, the experience with the LC at the hospital could have EASILY led me quit breastfeeding if I wasn’t so determined. We are not all the same. Our experiences are not the same, our children are not the same, our bodies react differently. Medicine should not be “one size fits all”. Just like ANY profession, if something doesn’t feel right then get a second opinion. What do you think? What has been the BEST advice you have ever gotten from a lactation consultant? What is the WORST advice you have ever gotten? Anyone ever had BAD advice from a lactation consultant? I was to preface this by stating that I think that lactation consultants are worth their weight in gold! They can be the best gift to a breastfeeding mom! When a mom is having problems, baby isn’t gaining weight and other issues arise, LCs can completely turn your breastfeeding relationship around and allow for months and years of breastfeeding that otherwise may not have happened. But what I want to talk about today is when you get BAD or WRONG advice. People who support breastfeeding (as I do! HUGE!) are reluctant to admit that there is bad advice and professionals who are doing more harm that good. As with ANY medical advice, the purpose of this article is to encourage you to trust your instinct (which can be scary when you are a new, first time mom) and get second onions when you feel you are not getting the right care. Standard protocols do not fit all moms and all situations. Get educated! This is the best way to protect yourself and your family when it comes to any health issues! THE STORY: I had terrible breastfeeding advice with my first child. I gave birth is California, so a LC did standard rounds in the hospital! How amazing is that! All moms should be afforded this type of breastfeeding support in the hospital. But for me, this service turned into a nightmare. When my little girl was born, I wanted to breastfeed immediately, my child was taken away and not given back for an hour (but that is another story for another time. But even with this situation, she lathed quickly and was a good nursery. My colostrum was in and we were doing beautifully. But at day 3 there was a tiny bit of pink in her diaper and she was losing weight. This is where it went downhill. The hospital LC was called and I was told baby was not getting enough and my baby was starving. I hear this story by SO many new moms! The lactation consultant told me I had to get my milk to come in faster and had me pump every 2 hours after every feeding. I was told to supplement with formula. I was sent me home. That was it. No pump until…, no quit supplementing when…, no end date, no nothing. What I was NOT told is babies who are born when you are hooked up to IVs will have more water weight and therefore drop more weight when they are born. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110814223805.htm This is not talked about, or even perhaps really “known” by the medical community. This was, in fact, quite NORMAL. But it was treated as an emergency, and as a new mom, I was freaked out and would do anything to feed my baby. I was not told that pink in the diaper at day 2 or 3 is not abnormal and is not in itself indicative of a problem. http://breastfeeding.about.com/od/allaboutthebaby/a/Newborn-Urination-In-The-Breastfed-Baby.htm I was not told that supplementing with formula could lower my supply and sabotage my ability to breastfeed at all! http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/breastfeeding/faqs/supplemental-bottles http://www.bestforbabes.org/common-problems-early-supplementing So I went home with free formula samples and a pumping protocol. They baby took nearly an hour to eat each time as she was two weeks early and was slow. So I would feed for an hour, then pump for 20 minutes. Then I would have 40 minutes and start all over again. I developed a terrible oversupply problem (which I had a tendency to I found out anyway) and developed terrible mastitis and forceful letdown. My little girl was crying all the time, pulled off the breast and crying more. I started going a little nuts and thought that the noise from the pump said “have hope” “have hope” over and over while I pumped day and night. I cried all the time and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. My breasts were painfully full all the time and I leaked constantly. Was this normal? Was this what breastfeeding was like? How in the world did people do this for months and years!?! Exhausted, sick and spent, I finally went to another lactation consultant that I paid for out of my pocket. Best money I ever spent. She told me to stop pumping immediately. To start block feeding. She advised me baby was sick all the time due to forceful letdown and oversupply. My situation was so severe that I had to take antihistamines for a few days to calm down my supply. My little girl got better. She stopped crying and I got sleep. The LC was astounded that I would get this kind of advice from the hospital because of normal fluctuations in the baby’s weight and appearance of slight dehydration at day 2-3 just before your milk comes in. She was unhappy that I would get advice to pump that often with no evidence that I had any supply problem at all and never had an “end date”. To me now, it is like prescribing antibiotics and never telling you to stop. Just keep taking and taking them! I did call the original LC company once my child was better to talk about my experience. I was told they gave me this “free advice” at the hospital because it was “standard protocol” if baby was losing too much weight. My baby never dipped below the 10% loss rate that is the “cutoff” for normal. (If you even agree with this philosophy). In fact, I had no signs at all that I needed any intervention at all! To top it off, they get you started for free at the hospital but then I had to PAY for a follow up at the tune of $90 by the same group to try to get well. When I told them my story, they never said this was a bad call. They said they would not change that advice to future moms or consider it differently. ALL moms were to be treated as though they were having UNDER supply problems in that scenario. I don’t think I will be the last mom with this story…at least at this hospital. Considering my situation, the experience with the LC at the hospital could have EASILY led me quit breastfeeding if I wasn’t so determined.

We are not all the same. Our experiences are not the same, our children are not the same, our bodies react differently. Medicine should not be “one size fits all”.

Just like ANY profession, if something doesn’t feel right then get a second opinion.

What do you think? What has been the BEST advice you have ever gotten from a lactation consultant? What is the WORST advice you have ever gotten?