I have worked with infants delivered by midwives and the mothers are
comfortable with the mucous and are instructed in how to help the infant to
handle it herself. The first time I saw this the mother had to reassure the
"LC who had come to assist", that all was ok. Any midwives among us want to
comment?
I have also worked with several babies who had extensive suctioning,
including stomach pumping, excessive mucous being blamed for reluctance to
feed. All of these babies went on to have difficulty passing meconium and
were still having dark stools up to two weeks. I wonder if stomach mucous
has a role in stooling and clearing of meconium. What do you think?
Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee