> What the RNs say about our Couplet Care is that the moms are exhausted at
> discharge from the hospital because they are expected to be so completely
> responsible for baby care, including breastfeeding. Some RNs say when mom
> asks to leave baby in the Nsy & the RN to feed formula, they don't argue,
> they just do it so mom can get some rest.

> Initial numbers: the Initiation Rate shot up to 90%, but the percentages
> are going in the wrong direction: the "Mostly BR" is dropping and the
> "Mostly ABM" is growing. The Excl BF is 0 - down from an avrg of 3.5%
(high
> of 8% once).

I don't quite understand why it is so exhausting for the mother to be
completely responsible for baby care. Do they all have full-time nannies and
housekeepers once they get home? Surely at least while they're in the
hospital they aren't worried about preparing meals, cleaning house, doing
baby laundry, and all that other stuff.

Maybe if the nurses want mom to get a rest, they could offer to do the
diaper changes or whatever other baby care is going on and let the mother
just feed the baby.

It is also interesting to see the different points of view on these issues.
When my grandson was in the hospital (he was born six weeks early and had
some breathing difficulties), his mother was very clear that he would be
exclusively breastfed. She had tons of milk and was willing and eager to be
present at every feeding and to do all baby care. We were frustrated by the
amount of resistance we had from the nurses. We heard "breastfeeding isn't
always the best thing for premature babies" and "don't bother pumping at
night, it's more important for you to sleep" and "if you give him some
formula you'll be able to take him home sooner" and "won't dad want to feed
him sometimes" and a million other negative comments. Another friend of mine
whose full-term baby was ill and had to be hospitalized right after birth
had a similar experience; she was repeatedly told to go home to rest and let
them feed the baby formula, despite her insistence that she was not tired
and needed to be with her baby.

But when I talk to nurses I hear that they are doing their best to encourage
mothers to exclusively breastfeed, but the MOTHERS insist on sending the
baby to the nursery and giving formula.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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