We do not have all the facts in this case.  The person who serves on the Board 
of Directors for a foster care organization was wise in counselling the foster 
mother to operate within proper channels--not being excessively judgmental or 
close-minded.  The fact that a child is in foster care does not mean that the 
parent has lost all rights to determine how her child shall be cared.  No one 
mentioned anything about an "ick" factor. By agreeing to be a foster mother, the 
caregiver has agreed to have certain limitations placed on what she can do & how 
she can function in her relationship to the children who come into her 
home--despite what she believes to be best and no matter how heart-rending this 
can be. In this situation we are not talking about a casual milk-sharing 
relationship between close friends or family members. I have a infants in a  
variety of living & social situations on my case load.  Some may end up in state 
custody for any number of reasons and the foster families do not always receive 
the full details on the situations and histories of the people involved.  Some 
parents still retain the ability to make medical decisions for their child and 
this baby's biological mother is still maintaining visitation in this 
instance. The foster mother can continue to pump and wait until full permission 
is received to put the child(ren) to breast--at that point getting the children 
to breast would follow as it would for any other situation with adoptive child 
or helping an older child return to the breast. I am also wondering if there 
would be any legal/ethical implications on the part of an LC who helps a in a 
situation like this if it comes out that she was working on getting the children 
to direct breastfeed and there are later objections on the part of the 
biological family if the parents or another relative regains custody?

Pondering in the cold & rotating black-outs of North Texas,

Linda A. Madsen, RN, Inpatient Care Coordinator


     
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