35+ years as M/B nurse here. Overall, I would say that being able to get new families off to the best possible start is the best.
Years ago, there used to be many more family members readily available to give hands-on support to new moms. It's not as prevalent today, so many 1st time moms don't have any experience with newborns or even small children and now have sooo many questions on how to do even 'basic' care items. From How to actually hold a baby, to changing a diaper. What is "normal" for a newborn and when you should be concerned, and how to tell the difference.
How to breastfeed is a HUGE part of your teaching process and will take up considerable time, but worth it in the long run. Being able to get a mom to successfully breastfeed, when others have attempted to help and failed, is very rewarding .. both to you AND Mom!
I saw my main job priority was to get these families off to the best possible start and give them resources to continue their learning journey once they get home.
2 words of advice with exhausted, frustrated, hormonal moms:
#1. Remain CALM! YOU set the tone. If she is "losing it", You be the calm in her storm, and help her through that.
#2. NEVER tell her she is doing something "wrong". She will most likely immediately "shut down" and literally not hear much of what you proceed to say. She already has LOTS of people in her current world, more than ready (and probably already have) told her all the things she's doing 'wrong'. She doesn't need to hear that from someone else as well.
Instead, look genuinely interested in what she is saying or doing, and then when you see or hear of something she IS doing "wrong", and you know you have a 'solution' to it, ... try saying something along the lines of How about I show you a "trick" to help with that? You'll get her attention, and she's now much more willing to listen to you and take your advice, because she just didn't know "the trick"! Yes, it's a 'play' on words. But it DOES work! And, you'll have Much higher chance of having a happy and thankful new mom who will go on to successfully get over that hurdle!
I worked MIU, L & D and NICU. My favorite was L&d. I liked MIU and helping parents get used to baby, learning parenting skills and duties. I loved the babes too. However it can become a bit boring so I am glad I trained in L&D, Nsy, Nicu and MIU.
