Follow up phone calls

[Guest guest]

I understand both sides of the follow up phone calls; the fragility of

new families and the importance of reaching out during crucial times

and the mutual respect aspect of our working relationship that

encourages families to follow up with me if needed.

I must admit with my busy schedule that I do in many cases rely on

moms to follow up with me. I have found over the last few years that

I could not survive without email communications. Moms love the

anonymity and the timeliness of the email communication. I am able to

answer questions and send electronic files for " homework " ; they love

the links to pertinent information.

There are some families where I can sense a phone call is needed and

in those cases, I will reach out. In many cases messages are left on

machines and then I will again rely on them to follow up if needed.

All moms I meet are encouraged to follow up with me (phone calls or

email) and I make sure all are aware of the Breastfeeding Support

Groups (BSG) in the area.

The BSG I facilitate at a local hospital (is open to any mother/baby

regardless of place of delivery) also invites all attendees to

participate in an online discussion group. This group gets " major "

traffic; moms love to post at all hours and get feedback from all

members. We have fun posting news articles and our personal commentary

(our latest discussion was Melamine in US Formula).

I guess the point I wanted to make was that communication can

effectively take place in other forms.

Respectfully,

Casi Leahy

BA, RN, MSN, LCCE, IBCLC