Hello, my name is Kate Holly.  I am not a professional anything; I am the
mother of three, including a baby with congenital heart disease, and  an LLL
Leader, but I remain  very involved in learning as much about CHD as my mind
permits.  So, take this from whence it comes!
      Breastfeeding can actually be very stressful to a preterm baby with
congenital heart disease.  I think it is a good idea for this baby to be fed
bm by gavage, but my only concern would be to see how the baby handles the
stimulation of being at mother's breast, i.e., do his O2 sats drop?
      Last year when my son was born with a major heart defect, I didn't hold
him for quite some time, because of being on a respirator and various other
reasons, but when I did finally hold him, it was too stimulating, and we had
to take it very slowly.  This surprised me; I thought any baby was better off
being held.
    Because of a paralyzed (open) vocal cord and a condition called
chylothorax (lymph leaking into the chest cavity), he could not be fed po or
have any long-chain triglycerides, and therefore did not breastfeed until he
was three months old.  I could not hold him at the breast, because he would
try to latch on.  But when he finally was allowed to try, he did remember how
to breastfeed.  He had a hard time coping with the volume, which we worked
out over time by lying down (initially) for every feeding.  So maybe this
baby would indeed be better off not being overstimulated (made to fuss), and
maybe he will take the breast when he is ready.
   For what it's worth.......Kate at [log in to unmask]