Hi Everyone,
today I was trying to calm a poor mother down who was obsessively test
weighing her baby and convinced he was wasting away before her eyes,
despite the fact that his weight-gain, though lower than average, is
steady and his general health very good. He is producing plenty of wet
and dirty nappies.

He had gained about 20oz in his first 8 weeks of life, although the
first 4 weeks were marred by problems of poor latch, mastitis and very
sore nipples for his poor mother, who was also recovering from a
difficult birth with high forceps. Since then, he is feeding better and
her soreness has healed up and I thought the mother was winning through.

Then she visited her Health Visitor, who told her her baby had to be
supplemented with ABM because of his poor weight-gain and "failure to
thrive". My friend resisted (due to a very serious concern about
allergies) but the Health Visitor told her that if she didn't, the baby
would get brain damage and risk serious infections such as meningitis.

We are now battling with nipple confusion, reduced milk supply and a
mother with not a shread of confidence left. When will health
professionals think of suggestions other than ABM for every known
problem? Permission to shoot the HV?
--
Anna (mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995 and Alice, born 11th Sept 1996)
Email: [log in to unmask]  Web Page: http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna