Hi, it has been a long time since I posted anything.  My name is Debra
Witters I am a lactation consultant in a middle size acute care hospital.  We
have a Level ll nursery.  I am hoping I can get some advice form those who
deal with in-patient issues.  This is the scenario that keeps popping up.
Preemies are delivered and supplemented with formula because the moms are not
able to produce/pump "enough" soon enough.  I know there are many issues
here!  The age babies we are talking about are 34-37 weeks.  They do go to
breast about every 2-3 hours or as needed.  Some of these babies are fabulous
sucklers and others are not.  If they breastfeed well, generally we wait and
see how they do ( we use lots of breast compressions).  If they are sleepy
and/or do not sustain a deep latch,  obvioiusly this is where we get into
trouble.  We have the moms pumping after every BF attempt.  Frequently we get
no colostrom or just barely drops in the first 24-48 hours.  We also try hand
expression.  So the question is... if the pediatricians insist the babies
need calories what do we give them until the mother is able to pump/produce
more milk?
I would rather see the babies with  an IV than formula.  We do not have
banked milk stored at the hospital.  You can answer me at my own e-mail
address or on Lactnet.
Thank you,  Debra Witters Rnc, IBCLC

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