Liane, I am not sure what you meant with this: 'I was pleasantly surprised
as I was beginning to really question myself with this one -- still am, for
the most part.'    I was surprised at the gastroenterologist's ignorance,
but it was hardly pleasant.   Can you
elaborate?
The people who have responded to your post are some of the most sensible,
experienced people on this list, and they are unanimous in saying 'this baby
is NOT GETTING FED ENOUGH'.  Several of us have specifically asked whether
you know how many times in 24 hours the baby is coming to breast, and we
still haven't heard whether you know the answer.

Even if the baby is coming to breast 12 times a day, if he is as weakened as
babies usually are when they have stayed so far below birth weight for weeks
on end, he is unlikely to be able to transfer milk or stimulate the breast
effectively.  Jack Newman used to say 12 times nothing is still nothing, and
if a baby is transferring little or nothing each time, it won't help
to increase the frequency.  Doing pre- and post-feed weight checks is a more
complex task than it seems at first glance.  Yet the mother is doing the
weight monitoring alone, with no experienced eye doing an independent
assessment.  It couldn't possibly be cost that is stopping her from seeing
an LC, if she can afford specialists of every flavor and a digital scale to
have in her home.

A doctor who is happy to let a baby remain in this condition is a doctor who
doesn't acknowledge the normal parameters for infant growth, parameters that
IBCLCs scarcely need to look up because we know them so well.   So far this
mother says she has met two medical specialists and a midwife who don't mind
that her baby seems to be starving.  Why do you believe her?  Are the
medical practitioners in your area really that ignorant?  Is there a
possibility that the mother is using an IBCLC who can't see her, because she
doesn't want anyone to see her and her baby?  Do you not wonder what she is
telling the pediatric gastroenterologist and her pediatrician about what you
are advising her to do?

I'm not usually paranoid and suspicious toward mothers.  But this case is
just so *not right* that I have to consider the possibility of mental
disturbance on the part of the mother as well.  This is the kind of case you
might regret not washing your hands of because it could end up with serious
backlash.  Try to imagine how you would react if you were reading this post
from someone else on LN, I hope you will see what bothers us all so much!

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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