I've decided that today it is time to come out of lurkdom now that my little
girl is 4 weeks. I've been reading all your posts and the recent posts about
not bathing the baby I find interesting. I gave birth at home 4 weeks ago,
but due to (I believe, the midwifes can correct me) a very fast birth - 2
hours & 2 pushes - we ended up in the local hospital as the midwife was
worried about my daughters breathing (she was using a lot of effort in the
beginning, but luckily this resolved itself after a few hours on a little
oxygen). To cut a long story short, she was not bathed until she was +72
hours. This I found great as she had a lot of vernix which was taken back
into her skin plus she smelt really nice to me! After she had her first bath
and stank of soap that fresh newborn smell was over. Despite the start
problems I was able to spend the first 2 hours with her in my arms before we
got to the hospital. I too also decided not to bathe properly (I showered
from the waist down for the first few days!) so we could maintain our smells
together. I even kept the t-shirt I wore when transfering to the hospital
and put it around her when we were together - got some strange looks from
the nursing staff though!
Rachel mentioned breastfeeding friendly assessments of hospitals - well
Rachel, come here and assess our local hospital, it will make your blood
boil! Mothers and babies separeated at night, 3 hour schedules for feeding.
Advice on pumping - no more than 10 minutes per time. Pediatrician that
thinks that breastfed babies should not be fed too often or they will get
jaundiced and jaundice is also caused by dehydration - go figure! I tell
you, it was the stone age (actually, they probably had it just right in the
stone age!). Posters from formula companies, even an add for formula for
babies who can't tolerate normal formula. Actually, I should have relised
what it was like when my midwife who came with us to the hospital layed it
on the line that this was a breast baby, that I gave her mothers bfeeding
courses and that she would hear about it from me if things were not going as
we wanted on the bfeeding front!
Needless to say, at least for my baby I was able to turn their "protocols"
on their heads. By the second day I was just left to it and did keep my
daughter with me at night. We stayed in the hospital as her blood sugars
were not stable - although they never dipped very low, 1.9 was her lowest.
She also got a little jaundiced, i.e. normal newborn jaundice. Of course
they measured the bili which was 203 umol/L at 72 hours. I was told that it
looked like she would have to have phototherapy by the ped. (ok she was
still in training)! Needless to say, I phoned a fellow Dutch lacnetter
because I didn't have the knowledge in my head and she gave me the info out
of Lawrence on bili levels. My husband also brought me my Lawrence into the
hospital (to use as a heavy blunt object if required!). I also had Jack
Newmans book at hand, due to his exellent arguments and Larry Gartners
article from Ped. Clinics on jaundice. Basically, the mothering instinct had
kicked in hard and I was prepared to do battle. But instead of doing battle,
we just decided it was time to leave - blood sugars had been stable for a
good while now - so we went home! Thinking back, it might sound a little
irresponsible to discharge yourself and baby, but I'm glad I did. Needless
to say, the jaundice did not develop into anything and only required a few
hours of do-it-yourself phototherapy at home in front of a window and lots
of feeding.
I'm not going to go on, as it's beginning to sound like a personal crusade.
But I have to say that it's mostly the attitude and info I get from Lacnet
that gave me the balls to do what I felt right for us.
yours
Sara Bernard, The Netherlands
Mother to Eva (4 weeks) , Timothy 6 and Benjamin 3.
Biologist, breastfeeding counselor.
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