My copy of JOGNN came today and I was quite intrigued by an article on "ultra low dose epidurals and the effect on breastfeeding.'" The sample size was quite small and the author concluded that there was little effect on suck, etc. The last portion of the article was a challenge. I don't have it right here but in effect it said "we shouldn't focus on the effect of epidurals on breastfeeding...many women place pain relief as a higher priority than breastfeeding....don't need to make them feel guilty about it" (this last one is not a direct quote - just my take. Well, for the last two weeks, I have noticed at least 2-3 babies a day who can't suck, not the breast not a bottle, not my finger...nothing. When they "attempt" to suck, they bunch their tongues, push the nipple out of their mouth, chomp and clamp. We have noticed this in several bottlefed babies as well. We actually had to gavage a baby last week to get some intake. So today I took a big chance and left a message for the head of anesthesiology asking if something new was being added to epidurals and what he thought was going on. Will report back when I find out. This article is going to get a comment from me. Seems to be right along the lines of "we don't want to make them feel guilty." But I'm struggling for an explanation. What do we say, nicely, to a mom when her baby just can't suck right? It's hard but they need to know something is causing this behavior. One mom actually argued with me. Said "he nursed fine before you came in." But he had not had any stools or wets since birth more than 12 hours ago. Couldn't get colostrum with hand expression. No one saw him nurse. Can't suck right on ANY bottle nipple that we tried. Sigh.... Mary Kay Smith, RN, IBCLC Romeoville IL *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html