Jumping in here again to speak up in defense of normalcy - we weigh babies
at birth and then again on day 3, meaning they should be at least 48 hours
old when weighed a second time, but some babies may be nearly 72 hours old,
depending on the time of day they were born.

It is not at all uncommon to see babies lose about 10 per cent of their
birthweights by the second weighing.  We look at how the baby seems:  Alert?
Cueing to feed?  Latching well?  Hearing swallows?  Still passing meconium,
or no stools?  Content at breast? And so on...

The weight loss is expected, which is good considering it is usual in a
hospital where we still use meperidine (pethidine) in labor, and epidurals,
and babies take some time to get their bearings and start working to build
mother's supply.  We only supplement if there are other clinical indications
to do so in addition to the weight loss, and only the very nervous among us
start supplementing when weight loss approaches 10 percent of birthweight.
The more optimistic staff, among which I count myself, don't start even
thinking about supplements until weight loss is closer to 15 per cent -
again, in the absence of other clinical signs.

What is the staff afraid is going to happen if mother and baby are left in
peace for another 12 hours?  The baby is not likely to starve to death, go
into a hypoglycemic coma or have a seizure.  The usual scenario is that
mother, in the course of the next day or so, notes her breasts filling with
a vengeance, accompanied by a 24 hour feeding frenzy in the baby, and then
it's all history and they breastfeed happily ever after.  We don't usually
need supplements, if the staff can keep their own anxiety from infecting the
mother.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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