Sue,
Don't even try to make sense of the way we do things in the USA medical
model of newborn care. In 29 years of nursing care, this is all I've had to
work with. Your system is much much better than ours. Our babies are weighed
daily, on the night shift. Exclusive breastfeeding is very rare in my state,
and mother/baby separation is the rule rather than the exception. Babies are
not with their mothers near as much as they should be, and even dedicated
and motivated lactation consultants like myself can't seem to change the
medical model of care, nor change most mothers cultural ideas about infant
feeding and parenting.
I really can't justify the daily weights, although I do find the discharge
weight on day 2 or 3 useful, as one indicator of how things are going, and
what babies definitely need follow-up. Pediatricians are the ones who
provide routine health care and screening of newborns, and they see the
babies at 2 wks old.
Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC
Mississippi USA

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome