>2.  The Nursery Chief has said before that he is the one who gets the calls
>in the middle of the night from BF moms who have just gone home and are up
>all night with a crying baby.  Of course, his suggestion to them is to give
>a bottle from the diaper bag they just took home, and go to sleep.  The
>Breastfeeding Helpline that I answer is a warmline that goes to voice-mail
>during the night.

This is one of my "gripes" with the information that breastfeeding mothers
get at the hospital.  It would be so simple to tell each mother that her
baby has grown used to the smells and sounds of the hospital while he was
there.  It feels like "home." The first night home he will not feel "safe"
and he should be held or be lying beside someone all night long. [Of
course, I hope that this will become on-going.]

When I do previews with a client this is a major point that I make, and
most of them tell me later that it was most helpful.  They feel good about
cuddling and comforting him, welcoming him home.

The mothers who were not informed of this are the ones that I hear from the
day _after_ they get home and _after_they have given that bottle of abm in
the middle of the night because "he was so hungry that he just cried and
cried until we gave him some formula."  When I tell them what was going on
they say, "Why didn't someone tell us?"

Some mothers are told that when the hospital sends the babies home they
"put the batteries back in," implying that their baby will cry more once at
home.  It would be just as easy to tell the mother that baby needs to be
close to someone while he adjusts to the home environment. [We know, of
course, that Mother needs this closeness too.]

I suggest this teaching whenever I am around hospital LCs or nurses and I
hope that some of them are remembering to teach this along with the many
required teachings many of which, in my opinion, are far less vital--such
as umbilical cord care.

Most of the hospitals in the Milwaukee area have stopped the alcohol stuff,
but a few nurses still teach it as most important, even though they have
been instructed otherwise.  Sound familiar?

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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