All three of my babies had TTN - transient tachypnea of the newborn.  (NOT
pneumonia)  My OB said he saw it more often in babies born after a long
second stage but I don't think there's any references for that.

Anyway, the only times they were NOT breathing with rates of, oh, 70-80 per
minute was when they were breastfeeding; when they were nursing, their RR
went down to a nice, even, slow 30-40 or even less.  So I nursed them a
lot!  This was before Paula Meier's study came out - when I read it, I
thought of how it made perfect sense when applied to my babies.

And I have a friend who worked with an OB whose husband was a farmer; she
reported that for calves breathing fast after delivery, the standard of
care was to get the calf nursing right away.

I would hope that a *healthy* newborn with a rapid respiratory rate would
be encouraged to breastfeed.  I don't think it's a huge reach to
extrapolate from Meier's experience with premies, so IMHO it's safe to say
that this would be evidence-based practice. Obviously if there are other
concerns about the baby's condition, the advice may have to change.

Mary Renard, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Vienna Virginia  USA

whose middle "baby" is the 6'1", 190 lb left tackle for his high school
football team - now on the injured list with a dislocated shoulder/fx
humerus <sigh>.  Come to think of it, he was really tachypneic when they
were trying to get his shoulder back together!

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