Lyla Wolfenstein asks for suggestions on this.
First, where I live, the accepted lower limit for a planned home birth is 37
weeks gestation, or just a few days after this baby would be born.  I would
not expect there to be much need for NG tube feeding in a baby that age, if
any, and if I were following them, I would strenuously object to heel sticks
for blood glucose as long as baby is acting normal: good color, normal
respiration, normal level of consciousness, seeking the breast, rooting, and
suckling, all of which I would expect to see in this situation.  Even if
heel sticks are done, there is no justification for denying baby access to
the breast.  The point of measuring blood sugar is to ensure that baby is
not dangerously hypoglycemic, and there is no consensus on what the limit is
for term or preterm babies, which makes some of us wonder why we are
constantly puncturing their skin.  In any case, if baby is showing signs of
wanting to nurse and then doing it, it means that the baby is capable of
responding to low blood sugar in a normal, appropriate, functional way, and
who should be happier to see that than the specialists caring for him?

Since mother is currently breastfeeding, how about freezing some milk to
take along for the baby, and making it abundantly clear to all persons
caring for them both, that the need for and/or use of any other foods for
baby will need to be extremely well-documented by the staff if it is not to
result in legal action?  The same should apply to the length baby's stay in
NICU.  I would expect it to be short, a few days at the most, unless there
are respiratory complications from the elective CS, but at this age it
should not be a long ordeal at all, and I would want to know exactly why, if
it drags on and on.

There is every reason to expect that mother will be able to have
skin-to-skin contact with baby within a very short time after the birth,
hours at MOST.  If this is not possible in the recovery area for post-op, it
should be arranged in the NICU.  All necessary observation of baby can be
carried out with baby skin-to-skin with mother, if the only 'problem' is
baby's age.  Baby can be sustained until this first contact if it is delayed
at all, by expressed milk given by syringe or cup (syringe involves less
spillage so conserves milk if in short supply).  If baby is uninterested at
outset, fingertip expression near baby's mouth, or expression into a cup, or
pumping and collection in the usual way, would be my choices, in that order.

Obviously, if baby develops signs of illness, you will all need to take that
into consideration.  Feed (and care for) the baby, protect the
breastfeeding, and the rest will sort itself out.

good luck and do let us know what happens,
Rachel Myr
Norway

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