Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Sat, 2 Oct 2010 12:36:18 +0100 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
>I recently saw a mother with 3 days old baby (36 wk). The mother
>thought that breastfeeding was going great, milk came in and she was
>feeding every 3 h ( she was instructed to do this way in a hospital
>by lactation consultant).
>The baby was jaundiced, sleepy and lost 9.5 % from birth weight.
A 36-weeker, jaundiced and sleepy on day 3 with this sort of weight
loss (would be regarded as WNL in the UK, actually!) is what we'd
expect with 3 hourly scheduled feeding. For most babies, this is not
enough, and scheduled feeding is *inimical* to happy, effective
breastfeeding.
This mother may well have had hypoplastic breasts - but the
sleepiness and weight loss and lack of effective feeding is *entirely
consistent* with the baby simply not feeding often enough. All babies
need unlimited skin to skin contact with their mothers, and no
separation, and certainly no advice to schedule (ie *limit*) feeding
to 3 hourly.
What would have happened if instead of supplementing straight away,
this mother and baby were encouraged to be together in physical
contact all the time, with some informed and observant assessment
made of how effectively the baby was transferring milk? Could the
situation have been left a couple of days, assuming the baby was
basically well (may have needed treatment for jaundice, I know, but
this would not effect or interrupt skin to skin)?
I am not picking at Maya's assessment - just asking in a spirit of
genuine enquiry.
I also want to know why someone in practice thinks it's a good idea
to 'instruct' a new mother to bf 3 hourly. Can this ever be
appropriate?
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
--
http://www.heatherwelford.co.uk
http://heatherwelford.posterous.com
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
|
|
|