Lactation Consultants at VHC...

[Anonymous]

I am a FTM due in April and plan to breastfeed my baby until he is atleast a year old. I am delivering at VHC because my OB practises there. I have a friend who delivered at VHC recently and had terrible things to say about the lactation consultant. For one the LC did not offer any guidance about latching, good breastfeeding practices and my friend ultimately ended up with formula. I am surprised because VHC call themselves a breastfeeding hospital but dont seem to have the right resources to help moms get BF off to a good start. Anyone else here who delivered at VHC have anything(good or bad) to say about the LCs? Should I arrange for an outside LC to visit me in the hospital?

[Anonymous]

The LC was nice, but not particularly helpful. Also, I didn't find her particularly available. Honestly, if you are nervous about it, do have an outside LC come in. I was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon, and Pat Shelly was at my Arlington home by Monday night -I wish I had had her come visit me in the hospital.

Hopefully, breastfeeding will go smoothly for you, but if it doesn't I would call some LCs ahead of time to see if they will do hospital visits.

One other word to the wise, if you want a hospital grade pump, VHC does not do rentals. (Before Pat came to my home, I told her I wanted to rent one, and she brought it to the consultation).


Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One other word to the wise, if you want a hospital grade pump, VHC does not do rentals.

Do you know if they have pumps there for you to use if you need one while you are still an inpatient?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One other word to the wise, if you want a hospital grade pump, VHC does not do rentals.

Do you know if they have pumps there for you to use if you need one while you are still an inpatient?

I never asked, but my neighbor, who also delivered there, said they do have them available. I would call to confirm.

[Anonymous]

They do have pumps for you to use while you're an inpatient.

And I sencond the criticism of the LC on staff there (who I'm sure is a lovely human being, etc.). She told my cousin's wife that their cleft-palate baby couldn't bf, even though they later were told that he probably could.

And I don't know whether this is her fault or just disorganization within the hospital, but when I was there 3 years ago it seemed that she had a no-exceptions policy that she'd only see mothers who were about to be discharged. After my son was born I had a problem with blood coming from my breasts along with the colostrum. I flipped out (rather understandably, I think) and the nurses kept putting calls in to her, but she didn't come to see me for 48 hours.

My baby wound up spending a week in the NICU, and several of the nurses there did know a lot about breastfeeding and were very helpful. I pray you never get to meet those lovey NICU nurses, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do have pumps for you to use while you're an inpatient.

And I sencond the criticism of the LC on staff there (who I'm sure is a lovely human being, etc.). She told my cousin's wife that their cleft-palate baby couldn't bf, even though they later were told that he probably could.

And I don't know whether this is her fault or just disorganization within the hospital, but when I was there 3 years ago it seemed that she had a no-exceptions policy that she'd only see mothers who were about to be discharged. After my son was born I had a problem with blood coming from my breasts along with the colostrum. I flipped out (rather understandably, I think) and the nurses kept putting calls in to her, but she didn't come to see me for 48 hours.

My baby wound up spending a week in the NICU, and several of the nurses there did know a lot about breastfeeding and were very helpful. I pray you never get to meet those lovey NICU nurses, though.

OP, I'm the other poster before this one, and what she's saying about the LC coming at the last minute seems to bear out with my own experience last summer. I was especially frustrated, as I have severely inverted nipples, and my child's mouth was particularly small. I really could have used assistance from the get-go. Also, my understanding is that they will not volunteer the pumps -you need to ask.

I liked VHC for the most part, but I did find the LC situation frustrating.

[Anonymous]

I had a horrible experience there. Really. My Dr. ended up telling them not to come back to my room, even.

HOWEVER, the nurses were *amazing* and they are the ones that taught me. The nurses there have so much patience and spent so much time with me helping me learn. I could not be more grateful to them. Be sure you get the name of anyone who helps you b/c VHC will call to survey you after, and I really enjoyed giving credit where credit was due.

[Anonymous]

What LC? She was very late coming to see me and then spent very little time actually showing me anything. I actually didn't find the nurses very helpful either, but my postpartum nurses were all pretty young. If you are concerned, I'd keep the number for an outside one on hand. I'm sure they'd be willing to visit you in the hospital given that many of them do home visits. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

The day I delivered the LC was out because her daughter was sick and they had no one else to offer me. WTF? Honestly, find a ped practice with LC's and ask to see one when you bring the baby in at the 2-3 day mark. I was doing fine (luckily because I had no guidance other than my mom) but I appreciated the confirmation that I was doing everything ok and the baby was taking enough in.

If you really do want to see an LC, tell every nurse that comes into your room so they don't forget about you. I loved the delivery nurses but post partum was, well just enh. I had to remind them a number of times if I wanted anything. Just stay on top of them.

[Anonymous]

I delivered at VHC 4 years ago and had a similar experience. The LC came to our room literally as we were gathering our bags to leave. I had been requesting a visit for 2 days at that point. The baby was too sleepy to nurse when she was there and she simply said, "Oh, you'll be fine" and left.

[Anonymous]

This is making me anxious-I'm due in 6 weeks and will be delivering at VHC. The last time around, i needed a lot help with breastfeeding for the first couple of weeks, and then everything well after that. I delivered at VHC and found the two LCs at the hospital helpful-they must have had a staff turnover because it sounds like that's no longer the case. I highly recommend Northern Virginia Lactation Consultants. In fact, i may call them and see if they do hospital visits if I can't get LC help at the hospital. It really ticks me off when hospitals advertise all their wonderful maternity facilities and then don't have adequate staff for breastfeeding.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have also heard that the LC at VHC are not good.

HOWEVER, the one thing I would highly, HIGHLY recommend about Fairfax Inova is their lactation consultant department. I dealt with three of the consultants and they were all wonderful. In fact, they actually stood up for me and spoke with the hospital staff pediatrician who was demanding I supplement too much right before my milk came in. They were helpful, nurturing, and most were nurses as well.

The reason I mention this is that they have a 2 weekly breastfeeding support group meetings. I would call and see if expecting moms can come, too. I went in 2 days after I was discharged so I could check in on DD's weight, and she had already regained to her birth weight! I believe they are run by Karen, but any of the staff LCs were fantastic. They also sell and rent pumps and nursing bras there. I can't recommend them enough, although my overall experience at Fairfax was not wonderful.

If only we could transfer over the lactation department to VHC, right?

[Anonymous]

I delivered at VHC in November and I dont have anything good to say about the LC either. She spent 10 minutes on a monologue on things she thought were important...no guidance on latching, no nothing. She told me I wouldnt be able to breastfeed because I had small breasts! 3 months gone and we are still going strong. It's so important to get breastfeeding off to a good start - and for a hospital like VHC I would definitely expect much better support. I hope they're listening....

[Anonymous]

I delivered at VHC almost two years ago, and actually found the LC to be very helpful - she came to the room a few hours after I delivered, showed me the best way to hold the baby, how to ensure a proper latch, etc. Probably spent about 1/2 hour with us. I think they had two LCs on staff at the time, and heard bad things about the other one, so maybe the LC I had left, but wanted to let everyone know that at least 1 person had a good experience (and went on to BF until DS was 13 months old).

[Anonymous]

I delivered at VHC in December and while I didn't have a problem breastfeeding, I didn't find the LC to be awful or unhelpful. I did, however, take a BFing class through Lamaze prior to giving birth and that helped tremendously (highly recommend). There's only so much you can learn after having just given birth and with limited staff, so educate yourself beforehand.

What I will say about VHC is 1) they have WONDERFUL nurses and 2) probably a little known fact, but they offer (every other Wed.) a new Mom's support group at 10:30, followed by a newly offered Breastfeeding support group at noon. These classes are both helpful, but esp. the BFing class because so many issues arise AFTER discharge.

I highly highly recommend the VHC BFing class and it's FREE!