This is my EXACT complaint.  If we REALLY want to know where the weight loss is coming from, weigh the diapers on these babies just like they do in NICU: not that hard to do - except of course when babies are rooming in, weighing a diaper immediately before evaporation occurs could be difficult.  Not to mention the missed diapers. Plus - use the SAME scales for all the weights.  I see different brands used in the delivery rooms and the nursery and lactation.  Here is the problem:  nobody wants to invest the time and money it takes to do a decent study unless it will somehow benefit a formula company.  Who makes a killing from a mother directly breastfeeding?  That's right - only the family.  Gee - what if they measured male output and determined there success by volume.  How daunting would that be to the male ego?

-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jan Barger
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2013 9:54 AM
Subject: 5% weight loss

Sarah writes (regarding that "little bit of formula" study)"
 

<<The criterion was 5% weight loss *in the first 36 hours*,  not all babies with 5% weight loss. The authors picked this particular  criterion because previous research showed this sort of more rapid weight loss  to be a predictor of a higher likelihood of going on to further weight  loss>>
 
Can I beg and plead for someone to actually do a study on the amount of weight loss in percentages in babies and the comparison to amount of fluids and  pitocin mom has received and how much baby is losing by WEIGHING DIAPERS? 
  When we see a percentage of weight loss, is ANYONE looking at how much the baby  peed & pooped in the first 24-36 hours?  And not just checking off the  pees and poops, but actually doing some *real* output measurements?  We know the more IVs the mom gets, the more the baby loses.  But we jump all over percentages -- to the point that some moms aren't told what the baby's weight is, just that "he is down 7%".  
 
The assumption is -- as was in this study -- that a certain percent weight  
loss is due to inadequate breastfeeding.  And in fact, it might be.   But 
before we make those assumptions, lets see what the baby's output  is.....
 
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC, FILCA
Lactation Education  Consultants
Wheaton IL

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