Have you ever gone to a physician and gotten some bad advice about breastfeeding?
Maybe your OB told you to stop nursing on one side because you have mastitis. Or maybe your hospital insisted on taking your baby to the nursery for no reason when you wanted to hold her skin-to-skin in your room. Or maybe an anesthesiologist told you that you have to pump-and-dump for 24 hours after having general anesthesia.
Thanks to the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, the organization of physicians dedicated to the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding, you have at your fingertips evidence-based protocols on many breastfeeding topics. I'd encourage you to check them out and to present them to your healthcare providers when you feel you aren't getting appropriate care. These are written by physicians for physicians, but I think that they can be good tools for moms, too.
I'm linking to several on common topics here, but there are many more you might find helpful.
- Mastitis
- Engorgement
- Jaundice
- Supplementation in the hospital
- Breastfeeding and co-sleeping
- Anti-depressants and breastfeeding
- Model hospital policy (covers a number of topics)
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