Has this been discussed before on lactnet?  I am the breastfeeding educator
for the Mississippi State Dept. of Health and the WIC Program.  One of my
responsibilities is to provide training to hospitals around the state.  3
out of the 5 hospitals I visited last, it was routine practice to aspirate
the newborns stomach of all content.   The only explanation I received was
1.  this is the way they had always done it.  2.  the infant was less
likely to spit up the first feeding.

The problems I see are 1.  this could make for a very orally defensive
infant and 2.  Enzymes are being removed that enable the first feeding to
be digested well 3.  and it would be there unless it was needed.

Can ya'll give me some feedback?  Is there research published that would
address this?  Is this what is being taught in nursing school, etc?

I look forward to hearing  your thoughts.
Camille Foretich, BS, IBCLC, CHES in Jackson, Mississippi USA