Kathy is going head to head w/ a nursery nurse who:

> We called the nursery nurse
> today to ask what she is going to speak about so we don't overlap.  She
> is planning to include talking about supplementing babies until their
> mothers "have enough milk".
>
Ah, this is the infamous:  "God screwed up again in not making sure mothers
were producing at least two ounces per feed from the moment of delivery"
ploy.  (It goes along with the vaginal opening not big enough to deliver
babies without episiotomies).  It's a darn good thing that God created
Similac and Enfamil, for without them, all babies everywhere, around the
world, would not survive.  It's amazing that the world has a population of 6
billion + since all the breastfed babies since the beginning of time have not
gotten enough to eat in the first three days of life.

I wonder if she remembers (probably not) back to the good old '60s and early
'70s when babies weren't fed for the first 24 hours to "give their stomachs a
rest."  And yet we were able to put men into space, and Bill Gates is a
billionaire, despite the fact that he was starved for at least the first 24
hours of his life -- even if he was formula fed.  (I haven't a clue as to
whether he was or not -- I just know that babies weren't fed for 24 hours).

My own firstborn is about to get her master's degree in nursing (maybe there
IS a deficit there), and she wasn't allowed to eat from the time of her birth
at 1:30 pm until 1:30 am -- and then it was sterile water....no breastfeeding
until 5:00 am.

Sorry for the cynicism (aaakkk -- and I was just discussing Screwtape Letters
by CS Lewis last night and this very thing) -- but perhaps I'm not.  I'm
really tired of blanket assumptions that NO mother produces enough milk for
her baby in the first 3 to 4 days.

Sigh.  Good luck Kathy -- perhaps it would be helpful if part of your talk
included an explanation as to why there is so little volume the first 48
hours after birth, and how that helps the baby make the adjustment from the
womb to the world.

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, RLC
Lactation Education Consultants
www.lactationeducationconsultants.com

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