GOLD Lactation Conference News
IBCLC's are the experts in lactation. We travel to multiple conferences per year, keep up to date on the research, listen to webinars, read all the books our shelves can hold and pride ourselves in providing excellent care to our clients. Our clients come to us because we have an excellent education right? Because we know the answers. We can solve their breastfeeding problems. We can fix it!
We feel confident that with our gentle guidance, just about any mother can breastfeed, and the vast majority of babies we encounter are capable of breastfeeding. Yes, there are babies who are unable to feed normally and/or comfortably without intervention that is beyond our scope of practice. No problem! We also know our community very well and can refer to a host of professionals who can work with us to enhance or correct most of those baby-related challenges. Wow! We are kind of amazing, right?
As many of you have experienced, sometimes other health care providers (HCP's) do not agree with our assessment or our recommendations. And many times the parents who are sitting in front of us, have a long term relationship with that HCP who disagrees with our assessment. What then? How do we help our clients solve the breastfeeding problem, when the professionals they trust the most tell them that our advice is flat out wrong?
Family members may have a strong influence as well. Many parents—depending on cultural background—may feel it is important to seek guidance from the grandparents. If that's the case, you may find yourself in the very difficult situation of being the only one in your client's support circle who feels very strongly that baby needs a frenotomy. Or that baby needs body work to help her turn her head both directions. Or that human milk is superior to formula.
Your client needs you. But she needs all of her other trusted supporters as well. You will only be in her life for a few weeks. Her other supporters will be there for many years.
Establishing trust from the first contact—whether it be email, phone or facebook-- gets us “in the door.” In my experience, using active listening techniques throughout the consultation—even when you feel like screaming inside—will help your client on her breastfeeding journey more than any list of convincing research articles. Not only that. Using active listening will help to prevent burnout, enable you to enjoy your consultations even more, and will, ultimately, bring you more clients.
I look forward to meeting you in the GOLD chat room. My goal is that this presentation gives you useful tools when you find yourself “in the middle.”
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Renee is a board certified lactation consultant in private practice. She has been working in the field of lactation since the birth of her first child in 1990--as a La Leche League Leader, postpartum doula and IBCLC. She draws from her background in education and child development every time she works with a breastfeeding dyad. Since becoming certified in 1997, Renee has supported moms through home, hospital and clinic visits, drop-in groups in the Seattle area and phone and Skype consultations internationally. She has the great fortune to work closely with several local Drs. who do excellent frenotomy. Renee is thankful to live in breastfeeding-friendly Seattle, close to her 2 grown daughters.
Renee Beebe, M.Ed., RLC, IBCLC will be presenting this year at GOLD Lactation Online Conference 2015. Learn more about Renee's talk as well as our other 28 Speakers by visiting our Speakers & Topics page.
