Not Enough Education

Just when I think that things have changed, and that pregnant moms have access to plenty of health information, I realize that we still have lots of work to do and we have to use every means available to provide prenatal, breastfeeding and newborn education to parents. I just assumed that everyone had access to health care providers that care enough to spend a few minutes answering what I think are basic and common questions. The issue is, that even though we answer the same questions repeatedly, for each woman, it is a brand new experience for her and these are new concerns. This particular pregnant mom had many concerns and one was which type of breast pump to buy. I asked her if she had signed up for breastfeeding classes and she said that she hadn’t because she thought she’d do that after the baby is born.

She chose her hospital based on their availability of lactation consultants, and knew that there were drop-in classes, but no one suggested that she take breastfeeding class before the baby was born. As soon as I recommended that she do so, she responded with anger that no one in all of her prenatal visits had thought to alert her to the availability of classes, yet she knew that there were drop-in support groups for after! Clearly we have a lot more work to do to support moms. If we have goals that more babies should breastfeed, then how about pointing moms in the right direction so they can get a better start.