Has any one of you had to call in child protective services due to concerns
about a baby? I have a situation, I am discussing with our hospital's social
worker. The case does not seem to be abuse but possibly neglect of medical
care/followup? It is a baby who at 2 wks of age mom called me asking about a
nipple shield. On further inquiry, it was found baby had lost 11 percent
weight loss and had not been rechecked. The mother does not have a
pediatrician, she moved to neighboring state. I advised immediate consult
and immediate supplementation of baby and milk increase measures. She came
in 2 days later and she had been to WIC who loaned her an Elite pump. The
baby had had a couple inaccurate weights due to clothes on (I showed her it
made a 7 oz difference to remove all clothes). Apparently he had gained 2 oz
in last 9 days, wt still very low at day 15, but baby not dehydrated. Milk
transfer only 25cc after switch nursing, breast compression etc. I sent
report to original doctor who saw baby in hospital. I impressed upon mom
that baby needed to be seen again in 2days (had appt with me) to assure that
he is indeed gaining weight. Very likely this is a milk supply problem but
want to be sure baby is gaining on the appropriate amounts of milk. She did
not come in for her 2nd appointment (weight check after recommending milk
supply increase measures and supplementation). As this was now day 18 with
no peds visit,and no f/u with me, and On the social worker's advice I
informed the father by phone (mother not in - she is a student) on the day
she missed the appt that the baby had to be seen that same day by a
pediatrician or I would need to have child protection services evaluate the
situation. He said they were going to go to a pediatrician, does not know
the name but it is in a pink building. How would you handle such a
situation. To mom's credit, she did keep the one appt with me, she initiated
contact with me re the nipple shield. She got the Elite, etc. By the way,
she delivered at my hospital, I helped her, all was ok except for minor
tenderness, I made a f/u call on day 4 but got the voice mail, left a
message but mom never called me until the 2 wks mark when milk supply was
low due to difficult latching. Remember, here babies are seen at 2 wks by
peds. Thanks for any insights.
Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN
New Orleans Louisiana, s.e. USA
_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
***********************************************
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
|
