Nursing Matters is currently advocating for a 16 month old,
breastfeeding toddler. The mother is in involved in another matter with
Social Services, and the official NHS paediatrician has stated the
toddler's weight is 'too low' and has ordered weighing every two days.
This is a classic signal that the paed. is going to claim parental
neglect via extended breastfeeding.
The paediatrician announced the toddler's weight was 'too low' on the
basis that the toddler was on the 9th percentile. (15th percentile, WHO
charts) All other developmental milestones have been checked and are
perfectly normal.
We're anxious to put a stop to further futile exploration of the
toddler's weight, by making a clear advocacy statement that it is not
position on any chart, but pattern, that is the most immediate indicator
that further investigation may be required. The toddler is indeed on
the 15th WHO percentile, and has followed the line perfectly since it
was 7 and a half _weeks_ old. We've had the actual toddler's official
UK 'red book' charts, checked by a fully qualified IBCLC, who has
prepared a statement that this toddler's chart does not indicate any
weight gain problem at all.
What we now need is a facing page, with shiny qualified quotes and
references, that allows a lay person to understand that a child on the
first percentile, is as healthy as a child on the 99th. In other words,
we need to challenge the assumption that a low percentile =
underweight. (Yes, I know this shouldn't be an issue, but it is.)
If you are aware of any quotes or references, that will illustrate this
simply and concisely, please let me have them. We have the WHO
statement that the charts are an indicator of normal growth, but we
haven't been able to find anything that explains pattern, versus
percentile position, clearly. The world does seem to equate low
percentile number, with underweight and a subsequent health issue.
(Remembering that this infant is following the curve perfectly.)
However, the reference cannot be from a La Leche League source. (Don't
ask, I can't explain.)
If you are working in this field, and can supply your own tailor made
quote (generic to principle, not the infant) and would be happy to do
so, please email me.
It's worth stating that this is an area that arises throughout the
globe, a great deal. The quotes and references we garner, will be
databased and made available to anyone fighting this ignorance, for the
future. So for that reason, if you do have LLL resources that cover
this, please forward them to me for databasing, but be aware that they
can't be used presently, to advocate for this particular toddler.
Hoping I've made all that clear - it's quite a tricky thing to 'unmake'
knowledge, and present to you the precise piece of ignorance we are
framing our advocacy statement to refute.
Thanks in advance...
Morgan Gallagher
www.nursingmatters.org.uk
("We will not rest, until every toddler on the planet has an above
average weight!")
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