MUSCMedical LinksCharleston LinksArchivesMedical EducatorSpeakers BureauSeminars and EventsResearch StudiesResearch GrantsCatalyst PDF FileCommunity HappeningsCampus News

Return to Main Menu

Consultants help moms with breast feeding

by Heather Woolwine
Public Relations
With more than 2,000 inpatient consultation visits last year, MUSC’s two lactation consultants, Jean Rhodes, Ph.D., R.N., and Jeanne Barreira, literally spent their work days going from room to room and floor to floor.

MUSC lactation consultants, from left, Jeanne Barreira, Barbara Haase, and Dr. Jean Rhodes. A welcome reception for Barbara Hasse, 8-10 a.m., June 30, Rm 841, Children’s Hospital.

The addition of a third internationally board-certified lactation consultant, Barbara Haase, creates not only a team better able to serve MUSC’s new breast feeding moms, but also a program where each consultant is a certified nurse practitioner.

An experienced lactation consultant in both the outpatient and inpatient settings while at the University of Illinois at Chicago for eight years, Haase moved with her family to Charleston after living in Belgium the last four years, where she worked in private practice.

“I am thrilled to join an energetic and committed lactation team,” Haase said. “I was attracted to the current projects the center is developing and their vision for the future.” 

Haase’s arrival will enable the other consultants to focus more on needs of Level II mothers, whose infants are preparing for the transition home after an extended stay in NNICU/Special Care. And while serving the lactation needs of all MUSC moms, the lactation team play an important role for those mothers whose babies have to stay in the hospital for various reasons, including premature birth or complications at birth.

“I enjoy the challenge of working with mothers and their infants with complex needs and the possibility to provide continuity of care over time,” Haase said.

“Our approach to breast feeding in the NNICU population, especially our premature infants, involves a slow transition to breast feeding beginning with Kangaroo Care,” Barreira said. 

“By being placed in an upright position, skin-to-skin between the mother’s breasts or on the father’s chest, the infant is kept warm, vital signs are more stable, there is less crying and more deep sleep. It may be days or weeks before the infant is actually able to go to the breast for suckling. 

“Our mothers are given breast-pumping instruction and are encouraged to provide breast milk for their infants. Some mothers choose to provide breast milk to their infants via bottles and others pump until their infants are able to transition to the breast.  We support the mother in whatever choice she makes.”

Ideally, the lactation consultants talk to new moms about breast feeding or breast-pumping milk for their infant during the antepartum period, but if not practical, then moms are approached as soon after giving birth as possible. 

It is well documented in anecdotes and research studies alike that the “breast is best,” and many believe that it provides superior nutrition for all infants, as well as immunologic protection and shortened hospital stays. 

“This is particularly true for our premature or otherwise compromised infants in the NNICU,” Barreira said. “Benefits of breast milk for all babies include the reduced risk of NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis), infant and childhood obesity, diabetes mellitus, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, childhood cancers, allergies and asthma; and they are less likely to die of SIDS.”

But the benefits of breast-feeding do not end with baby. Moms see an improvement of bone remineralization, reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer, healthy maternal-infant bonding, and increased self-esteem and confidence in the ability to care for the infant. 

“Sometimes providing pumped breast milk for her infant is the only thing a mother can do in the early days of her premature infant’s life,” Barreira said. “This is a very stressful time for everyone, and we are glad that Barbara will be available to consult with all of our mothers who are breast pumping and/or breast feeding their infants in NNICU/Special Care.” 

New mom Lori Smith holds her son, Cooper, as she and Barbara Haase, lactation consultant, discuss Smith's breast feeding technique. Cooper went home Tuesday after an extended stay in the hospital due to his premature birth. 

The MUSC lactation consultants are developing a protocol for transitioning the premature infant to the breast for the NNICU, Special Care and Level II nurseries, offer a breast pump rental station (792-0780), and provide breast feeding education for medical students, residents, and through the perinatal outreach program.

In addition, the team is participating in a national multi-site breast-pumping study, developing an outpatient center to provide follow-ups for breast-feeding mothers and developing a human milk bank.

“There are only five human milk banks in the country and we hope to become the sixth by the end of the year,” Rhodes said. “Patients or donors donate human milk to the bank and it is pasteurized so that it may be used for babies whose mothers can not supply breast milk for one reason or another. This is an excellent benefit for pre-term babies or those undergoing difficult procedures like gastrointestinal surgeries. We’re excited about starting the milk bank because human milk is better for infants than formula.”

Rhodes also mentioned that the MUSC human milk bank will have an added component for milk analysis, so that variations in milk among different mothers may be documented, as well as calorie, protein, carbohydrate, and fat counts.
 
 

Friday, June 25, 2004
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.