In regards to the discussion of how to chart breastfeeding, the following
format is something Linda Kutner and I developed a few years ago. The idea
was to define what hospital folks GENERALLY use to chart bf -- which is
usually something like "BW" or "BF" (for breast well or breast fair) or BW 10
min x 2 -- which as we all know means absolutely nothing.
So, this has the shorthand, but also the descriptors. All the moms I see get
it as well so they are able to determine if their babies are "breastfeeding
well." I tell 'em our goal is that the baby will be up to a "Good
Breastfeed" by discharge, since audible gulping is not usually something that
we hear until the milk surge (and even at that, some babies seem to audibly
gulp their saliva while others can very quietly consume 2 ounces!).
This is in the third edition of Counseling the Nursing Mother by Lauwers &
Shinskie as well -- you can feel free to use this and/or adapt it or ignore
it -- whatever!
Jan Barger
DESCRIPTORS OF BREASTFEEDING
EBF [Excellent Breastfeed]
(It would be unusual to see an excellent breastfeed in the first 24 to 48
hours of life)
Good latch
Long draws with rhythmical suck (nutritive sucking)
Short pauses
Lots of audible swallowing
You essentially need no assistance with positioning or latch-on.
No pain beyond slight & short lived latch-on discomfort
GBF [Good Breastfeed]
Good latch
Long draws with rhythmical suck (nutritive sucking)
May or may not hear swallowing
You need minimal assistance with positioning and latch on
No pain beyond latch on (as above)
*FBF [Fair Breastfeed]
Latches on
Short sucks, occasional long draws
Infrequent swallows, may not hear any
Frequent long pauses, needs prodding to keep going
You require assistance with positioning and latch on
*PBF [Poor Breastfeed]
Rooting, licking noted
Difficulty remaining latched on, or latches on but doesn't suck, or
non-nutritive suck only.
You require a lot of assistance with positioning & latch on
*ABF [Attempted Breastfeed]
Rooting, licking noted
Unable to latch on
You need a lot of help with positioning & latch, but baby still doesn't
feed.
*0BF [No/Zero Breastfeed]
No effort (sleepy?) or
Pushes away from breast, fights, cries
Despite lots of assistance, unable to accomplish a feed
© 2000/Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC
Adapted from charting form developed by Jan Barger & Linda Kutner
***********************************************
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
|
