My wife and I were blessed to welcome our son at Good Samaritan. This is our first child and we couldn't be happier. However, we were not prepared for the difficulty my wife and I would have breastfeeding. We assumed, like many people, once the baby arrives, the milk comes and breastfeeding occurs. This was not the case. It was and continues to be a struggle, physically and emotionally. Many people attempted to guide us through our difficulty including several floor RNs and lactation nurses. But it wasn't until we met Elizabeth, that we began to feel hope and optimism.
Upon our initial meeting, Elizabeth asked my wife how breastfeeding was going. My wife became emotional in describing our situation and expressed her feelings of despair and hopelessness. Not too long after that, Elizabeth came into our room and started showing my wife various techniques including self-massage and positioning strategies and, furthermore, educating my wife on why we were having difficulty from both an environmental and physiological standpoint. She was very knowledgeable! She spent over an hour with us that first time and by the end of the hour, my wife's milk began to flow and our son started to latch. Later that night, Elizabeth brought our son back into our room when we thought he would be formula fed in the nursery. She encouraged us to continue to practice the techniques and methods she taught us. At the same time, she was not judgmental about not breastfeeding if that was what we wanted, but she didn't let us give up without really trying.
We have been home for a couple of days now and are still struggling with breastfeeding. We're not giving up and part of the reason for that is because of what Elizabeth did. Good Samaritan is very lucky to have such a kind, talented, compassionate and tenacious person working for them. Thanks Elizabeth. God bless!