You have put your trust in your care provider – whether that
person is a Dr. a Dentist or, in my field, an IBCLC. You think you are getting good care, but
something doesn’t feel right. And you
realize that not only have you not received good care – you (or your child)
have actually been harmed in some way.
What do you do?
In my field I often talk to parents about poor care they
have received from other practitioners.
They are angry, hurt and confused.
They don’t understand why their care provider would ‘do that’ to them. In one case a mom and baby came to me 8 wks
postpartum and the baby was 3 ounces above birth weight. The Pediatrician had told mother he was fine
because he was gaining – just gaining slowly.
No – he wasn’t fine. In another
case, a mother was treated horribly (witnessed by her partner and doula) by an
OB/GYN during her delivery. The
treatment bordered on malpractice. She
was traumatized, baby had been injured – parents did not know what to do. In yet another case, an outpatient-clinic IBCLC
sent a baby home below birth-weight at 2 weeks of age and told mom there was
nothing that could be done to resolve the baby’s anterior tongue-tie and
significant torticollis and to just feed him a bottle of formula. Another mom was told by her IBCLC that If she
didn’t do the recommended treatment she was a bad mother. And lastly another parent told me of how she
had pre-paid for a consult with another IBCLC and yet, while her money is gone,
no consult ever happened and the IBCLC in question refused to respond to her
many emails. These are just a few instances - I know of many more. In each of these cases I told the parents the same thing I
tell any person who has been treated poorly or harmed by their care
provider: FILE a Formal Complaint.
All of the above examples are clear cases that warrant a
formal complaint being filed. As humans we have the right to expect our care
providers will do what is best for us, treat us with respect and work to
protect our health. When they don’t we
actually DO have options. The trick is
to actually follow through.
Many parents are just wiped out, exhausted, dealing with a
new baby and dealing with potential fallout from poor care by a provider. They feel they just don’t have the energy it
takes to file that complaint. I get it –
I really do. 18 yrs ago an IBCLC acted quite unethically
with me and I was disgusted – but I was exhausted and working to try and get my
breastfeeding challenges worked out. My
primary IBCLC was a God-Send – this other one?
Not so much. But I didn’t know I
could file a complaint against her. And
even if I had, I don’t know that I would have because of my state of
exhaustion and lack of support at home. Her unethical actions still
haunt me (they taught me what NOT to do as an IBCLC!), and it is too late for
me to file that complaint. However, I wish
I had known that I could have…because had I done that there is the good chance
that she would have been disciplined, re-educated or even perhaps stripped of
her IBCLC Credential…something! As it
was – I did nothing and her behavior continued – for years.
I knew there were procedures for filing complaints against
other practitioners, and as I got into the field I learned that there was also a
process for filing a complaint with the IBLCE (International Board of Lactation
Consultant Examiners). The IBLCE is the
Governing Body for IBCLCs. They tell us
what our Scope of Practice is (we can and cannot do), and what our Code of
Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct are.
And when those are violated it’s a problem – for everyone.
So, I started encouraging moms to FILE when they had
cause. Some did, but most didn’t because
they were too hurt (betrayed) by the care provider, too tired, too busy. They didn’t think their words would be enough
to make a change happen. I get it, I
really do. But at some point we need to
stand up for ourselves and our children and take a stand that will help us and
help others. If we know others who have
been harmed by a particular provider, we can work to support each other as we
file our complaints. One thing we know is that when we have been
harmed, if we have the support to, and knowledge how, to stand up for ourselves
it can be very healing! And the other
thing we know is that Change does not happen if no one speaks up! This Blog Post is to help YOU out there
who have been harmed stand up for yourself and your babies and file that
complaint when you have cause.
Many moms fear retaliation from a disgruntled care provider,
and I understand that too. (Believe me I
will get a lot of anger and probably some hate mail over this post!) But I believe that if we can set that aside
for just a moment (and know that if retaliation does occur we have options
there too) we can heal ourselves, and help others in the process. We must recognize that if a care provider is
hurting us, they surely have or will hurt someone else. If no one stands up to stop it, it just
continues. Taking back our personal power from someone
who harmed us is amazing! Yes – I have
done that – and it WAS amazingly healing!
So – what do we do?
When our Dr. hurts us we can file a complaint with the
medical board. Google ‘file a medical
complaint’ and you will find links for each state and how to file. Same thing with a Dentist, Chiropractor,
Massage Therapist, Midwife and even hairdresser – a Google search will bring
the information up easily enough. If you
search for “Association breastfeeding complaints procedure” you will find links
to file complaints against lactation professionals in other countries. Google ‘complaints IBCLC” and you will find
what you need as well if you have been harmed or treated inappropriately by an
IBCLC.
My parting comment is this:
Regarding ANY care provider – if you or your child has been harmed or
think you have been harmed, been treated inappropriately, unethically, etc., investigate
and make sure you have cause – and if you do - file that complaint. Don’t just let it go; don’t fear retaliation
to the point that it stops you from taking a stand for yourself. (Blocking people via internet is surprisingly
easy!) Protect yourselves and help
protect others…we all benefit with that.
Take back your power…
