Not The Formula For A Successful Doctor
Atlanta, Bad Behavior, Doctor/Physician, Georgia, Ignoring & Inattentive, Medical Office, USA | Healthy | October 27, 2018
(My daughter is born almost three months early and spends the first ten weeks of her life in the hospital. The day she is born, I start using a breast pump, so that I can take milk to her. Shortly after she comes home, we quickly realize that breastfeeding is an unpleasant experience for both of us, so I decide to continue pumping, but to supplement with formula during the night. It takes three weeks after she gets home, and me jumping through hoops and making phone calls daily, to get her insurance pushed through and active, so I can finally get her to her first pediatric appointment. Because I do not have a running car, I make an appointment at the office just down the road, and my mother is generous enough to drive us there. We arrive about ten minutes before the appointment, but we end up waiting more than half an hour after the scheduled time to be called back. The nurse calls a name that is somewhat similar to my daughter’s, but is incorrect, and is often used as a last name. After she calls the name two or three times, and neither of the other two families in the waiting room move, I ask if she is calling for [Daughter]. She nods and waves her hand and tells us to follow her. Once in an exam room, we wait about another twenty minutes before the doctor comes in.)
Doctor: *not looking up from her paperwork* “So, what formula is she using?”
Me: “None. I currently give her breast milk.”
Doctor: “All breast milk? That’s great!” *goes on about how great it is that my daughter gets exclusively breast milk, and about the benefits of breastfeeding*
Me: “Thanks. I wanted to start giving her formula once in a while, but I’m not sure what kind would be best for her.”
Doctor: “Oh.” *suddenly less enthused* “Okay. So, he’s five months old, right?”
Me: “No. She is three months.”
Doctor: *pulling the blanket down from my daughter’s face* “Cute. Let me wash my hands.”
(I then receive a lecture on germs, about making everyone around my daughter wash their hands, and about not only keeping her away from anyone sick, but just not taking her outside at all or letting her around family. A few minutes later, while examining her
Doctor: “She’s cute. What’s her name?”
Me: “[Daughter].” *internally alarmed because did this doctor not even look at any of the papers*
Doctor: “[Daughter].” *sarcastically* “Hmm. Unique. So, how’s the breast feeding going?”
Me: “I pump, and then we give her a bottle. Since she spent the first two and half mo–”
Doctor: *interrupting me* “She has a suck reflex. She can breastfeed.”
Me: “We’ve tried a few times, but it just hasn’t worked out well. She does better–”
Doctor: *interrupting me again* “She can breastfeed.”
Me: “She falls asleep every few minutes, and I have to wake her up continually.”
Doctor: “That’s fine.”
Me: “After an hour or two of nursing, she still hasn’t had enough to be a meal.”
Doctor: “That’s fine. Just let her keep doing it. It’s good practice.”
Me: “Okay, we will nurse here and there for comfort or a snack between feeds, but I’m struggling with my supply, hence the formula. But for the most part–”
Doctor: *interrupting again, this time very forcefully* “There is no reason not to breastfeed! You need to stop using the pump, and your supply will increase. You don’t need the bottles. She can do it, so do it!”