Thank you Rachel for your wise advice.  It came as quite a shocker when I
was criticized for offering this mother the opportunity to express milk for
her baby.  I certianly would never feel comfortable telling a mother that
she HAD to express milk for her baby any more than I feel comfortable NOT
telling her that it is an option.

As one person who emailed me privately pointed out, her feelings may reflect
the era in which she was raised and trained as a nurse more than actual
fact. (she is older than I by quite a few years).

And, thank you for all you do to make Lactnet such a helpful experience for
all of us!

Christy


>From: rmyr <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>CC: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Expressing for baby with poor prognosis
>Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 00:33:07 +0200
>
>Christy asks for input on this.
>IMO it should be the mother who decides what she will do, and she should
>have
>information presented compassionately and with hope.  One of the most vital
>things we can have in bad times, is hope.  Expressing milk can be a
>concrete
>expression of such hope.
>Also, for some diagnoses, receiving mother's milk may make the difference
>between life and death.  Imagine, then, what feelings the mother might have
>if
>she were discouraged from supplying the baby with her colostrum, and the
>baby
>died, and mother later learned that colostrum could have kept baby alive.
>Or
>imagine what feelings the staff might have, when the mother came back to
>tell
>them how this made her feel.  I would prefer not to have to live with such
>feelings, so I try not to make women's decisions for them.  They are
>usually
>experts at living their own lives, while I have all I can do to live my
>own.
>Rachel Myr (midwife and IBCLC)
>Kristiansand, Norway
>
>
>
>


_________________________________________________________________
Unlimited Internet access for only $21.95/month.  Try MSN!
http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp

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

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