dear sharon and all,
bravo for you and your hospital. you are miles ahead of here. what usually
happens is that, even at the hospital where the milk bank is located, moms
often find their babies are given ABM by bottle without so much as a by your
leave (old oklahoma expression which means without informed consent). we have
monthly professional lactation meetings in which LCs get up and discuss cases
and mention giving ABM supplements. the more conscientious ones might say,
"well, we couldn't give donor milk, you know" and nod in the direction of the
milk bank staff.
why not? i ask. too far? (one block away). language problem? you guys don't
speak english at the milk bank? don't have a pail to carry some home in?
okay, well, you know how i feel.
the impediments seem to be misconceptions about donor milk and lack of belief
that breastmilk is superior to ABM. what happens on other occasions is that a
mother at the hospital is accompanied by her midwife, who might insist on
donor milk when supplementation is insisted upon. or, a mother might call me
for breastfeeding help, and when i come into the hospital, i suggest donor
milk when supplementation is insisted upon.
usually, the situations could be easily remedied by better breastfeeding
management (funny, i can't force things to happen). the levels of resistance
vary. nurses uniformly (sorry, but true here) resist using donor milk.
doctors vary from completely uninformed and obstinately opposed for
completely illogical reasons, to willing to try it. breastfeeding management
knowledge is low, and usually the situations are caused by mismanagement, and
ABM supplementation is the "easy" way to "fix" situations that no one
understands.
at the hospital where the milk bank is located, they will occasionally recall
the existence of the milk and send down to the milk bank for some,
particularly for preemies. other situations require someone like me to
physically go to the milk bank and pick up milk and deliver it, along with
detailed handling instructions. no one has a protocol for using it, and they
all try to make breastmilk conform to ABM guidelines. this often happens even
with milk a mother pumps while in the hospital.
the idea would be that you would set up a small supply of donor milk in the
hospital, and upon receiving a prescription from the health care practitioner
for the mother or baby, dispense the milk. diane wiessinger is on the right
track.
i will get more information about who to contact or what information is
available and post it later. there is an information packet that is quite
thorough about what is necessary to set up a milk bank, available for $25 in
american funds.
i had a new client today, six week old baby, never latched on. in the
hospital they had a bottle of ABM in his mouth before she left the delivery
room, for reasons they never shared with her. when the baby wouldn't latch on
even with forcing his head on and forcing his mouth open (funny, i think i
see a connection here), they told the mom to start pumping. this mom, who now
pumps 10 ounces at a time, could produce 1/2 ounce of colostrum from the very
first pumping three hours after birth. but guess what her baby got in the
bottle. ABM, you guessed it.
more later,
carol brussel IBCLC
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