On 24/02/2012 16:07, Rachel Myr wrote:
> What I have gathered about the recommendation in the UK is that it is
> the *routine* weighing of a healthy baby between 2 and 8 weeks they
> are talking about, but that a baby who was giving cause for concern
> would be weighed as needed to determine whatever measures were needed
> to ensure the baby's health and a lot of resources were being used on
> unnecessary weight checks when those efforts could have been better
> used supporting breastfeeding in a more nuanced way.
I assume this is what was intended by the new guidelines.  However, as I 
recall, they don't seem to put a lot of emphasis on the need to be 
particularly vigilant in looking for signs of problems at the two week 
check, with no mention of what possible problems might indicate a need 
for earlier follow-up.  Of course, a clued-up health professional with a 
good dose of common sense is going to figure out for themselves that a 
baby not gaining adequately at two weeks should be followed up more 
frequently; but Lisa's story of the pediatrician who was quite happy 
with poor weight gain in a baby that age as long as he'd reattained 
birthweight dramatically illustrates the fact that not every health 
professional has that kind of common sense, and raises major concerns 
that people will blindly follow the weighing guidelines for all babies 
and let some slip through the cracks.  Very scary.


With best wishes,

Sarah Vaughan

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