I'm a hospital based RN and work in a level II nursery.  I am seeing the
exact same thing.  We sometimes get term infants who are in for sepsis
workups or glucose issues.  It amazes me how much the neonatologists expect
these infants to ingest.   Very often, they throw it up, in which case they
order a feeding tube to be placed.  I absolutely seethe with anger at this
practice and it's very, very difficult (if not impossible at times) to "play
along" with these orders.  Sometimes I do find myself stalling through the
night shift, hoping the baby will wake a bit more or have their tummy rested
a bit more before all these other orders get implemented.

And yes, it floors me that they expect these kids to gain weight.  We had
one mother who had a near breakdown when the neo told her this.  She had
done her reading and sadly exclaimed to me, "But I read the books.  We could
be here another week before she gains weight."  I quietly suggested to her
that she call her pediatrician (outside the hospital) and seek his advice...
that no one could hold her against her will.  I think we cheated a bit on
her weight that night... weighed her AFTER one of her many breast feedings
(instead of before, as we typically do) and it bought her a 5gm gain...
enough to satisfy the neo and get her discharged the next day.

I can't speak for anywhere else, but it just seems to me that some of our
neos are so used to working wtih micro premies that they forget what a
normal term infant's behaviors are.

Christina Harris, RN
Seattle, WA


On 3/2/07, Marcia Tessier <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> As a hospital based LC I am seeing some breastfeed babies with weight loss
> being supplemented with formula after nursing per pedi orders, during
> their
> hospital stay.

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