I work in one of those Australian Hospital Denise was talking about , in
NICU where formula is supplied but we actively encourage breastfeeding.It is
one of our clinical indicators that we try to improve the rate every year.
I know that there was a discussion about having mothers who wished to bottle
feed bring in their own formula for the babies but I don't know whether this
happened or not in the postnatal wards.

Any mother in NICU that wants a particular formula due to allergies etc in
the family must supply their own. The hospital only supplies one brand of
normal and low birth weight,other then those needing a medical order.

One of the questions on our Discharge check lists for both staff and parents
is have they been shown how to make the powdered formula up and how to
sterilise their feeding equipment.
The postnatal wards have the same thing on their check lists on their
clinical pathways.
While it might go against the grain for those of us that would prefer that
they breastfeed with the accompanying benefits for both mother & baby, it is
part of my position discription to ensure these clients are able to
competently make up their baby's feed if they are not buying pre-mixed.

What comes to my mind is a past experience with a very young teenage mother
,whose  home support was another sister who had recently had
children,telling me this particular sister had explained to her how to
sterilze her bottles and teats.Everything she had been told was
wrong,setting her baby up for possible salt poisioning. So I now like to
have the client explain what she knows before going through with her the
correct method of making up formula along with sterilization/decontamination
techniques these days.

Anne Clements RN EM BNS
Brisbane QLD
Australia

             ***********************************************

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