Dear Friends:
    Today I made a home visit in my role as insurance nurse. The mother had
been referred to me as someone who is doing both, breast and artificially
feeding. (In my experience, that almost always means exclusive bottle-feeding by
the time I make the visit. :-(
    The home was the grandmother's, and very poor although tidy and clean.
The first person I saw was a 2-year old girl that was at least 15 pounds
overweight; she was so large that she had trouble getting up to walk and had breasts
larger than my 14-year old daughter's. The grandmother, also overweight, was
sitting on the sofa, watching TV and smoking a cigarette.
    The baby's mother (aged 18) is morbidly obese, well over 200 pounds (her
pre-pregnancy weight), recovering from her second cesarean section.  She
didn't want to breastfeed, "I don't like that" she said. She also thinks her milk
has bad things in it because she too smokes cigarettes. The baby is more than
one pound over birthweight, at age 9 days. They (the whole family) give him a
bottle whenever he says anything, she said he gets a bottle about 10 times a
day, with an intake of 2-4 ounces a time. This mother also has a 11-month old
baby.
    She is still leaking. When she leaks, she takes her milk out and throws
it away. I suggested that she give it to her baby, but she didn't want to do
that, because of her smoking.
    Remember that I am a guest in their home, come to check on them for the
insurance company. They don't see anything wrong with anything in their lives
or any risks for future health. So my opportunities for any teaching are
limited.
    I suggested three things: 1) that if they hold the baby whenever he
wants, it will make him secure in his life, 2) that she could give him her milk
because even with tobacco products in it, it is still the best thing for her son,
and 3) that they let him regulate his intake and that he doesn't have to
finish every bottle.
    What really upsets me is the overwhelming feeling that there is nothing
they can or want to do to change anything. This is their lives, they accept it,
keep buying cigarettes, and staying overweight.
    I also saw how breastfeeding would have made such a difference. This teen
probably wouldn't have two babies 11 months apart and chances are the toddler
and infant wouldn't be overweight. My heart ached for this baby boy, who was
still saying the universal baby word for 'breast' ( that "unh-unh-unh" sound)
when his mother held him. He doesn't realize yet that all he will get is a
bottle, no matter what he says.
    As it is now, I can see this family developing a host of chronic diseases
that will make them suffer, and spend my tax dollars.
    very sad,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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