i was asked today to track down some concrete information about a subject that
is so far just rumor. apparently mothers were told by a childbirth instructor
(now fired by the local hospital) that they should be wary of certain L&D
nurses who not only suctioned nose and mouth of infants immediately after
birth, but who also are suctioning stomach contents. they maintain that this
causes the baby to nurse better due to hunger!

well aargh is that nicest response i could muster at the moment. has anyone
heard of this being done (and routinely, at that!)? also, my instinctive
responses to this are that any suctioning is invasive, and this even more so,
and that newborns aren't nursing JUST because of hunger. it often seems to me
that these sleepy and not-anxious-to-nurse newborns have bodies that have NOT
made the connection yet between hunger and nursing.

i am waiting to hear from someone who should know. but please tell me this
isn't happening everywhere else.

carol b.

ps this new method of controlling excretion - it won't work in western society
unless we can mechanize it some way.