Hello all, thank you to all who have provided me with info and support
for the mom whose 24 week triplets, delivered via a surrogate.  The neo
continues to tell mom that "using banked breastmilk is just not
something we are interested in pursuing at this time".
I just found an abstract from Baylor Houston, June 1999 which studied
the differences between feeding fortified human milk and premature
formula.  The conclusion was (no surprise) that the babies who got the
bm went home sooner, suffered few infections etc. It suggested that bf
should be actively promoted in NICUs.  I have provided mom with this
site.  She intends to take a print out to the neo this am along with an
offer from Dr. Rivera of the Austin Milk Bank to discuss the safety of
banked milk with him.  She's really "loaded for bear" now and I pity the
guy if he doesn't come around pretty quickly.  I'll let you know how it
works out.
Also, she continues to get occ. drops of milk during pumping, but that's
all.  The last week was a tough one with one of the babies needing a
Broviac catheter placement and dealing with an infection of unknown
origin.  I explained to her about the relationship between how here kids
are doing and her ability to pump, hopefully she won't get too
discouraged.  Her neo informed her that "lots of moms" who deliver their
own babies prematurely never get any milk either!  No surprise I
suppose, the hospital has no LC or any other designated staff to assist
with bf, and 1 working pump.
The boys are on continuous feeds now, .5 cc hourly with a bolus of 2 cc
every 3 hours.  The girl is not "feeding" now because she "couldn't
tolerate the formula"!
Sometimes I really wonder.  How can a person get to this level of
medical expertise and completely ignore one of the most important
aspects of taking care of preemies, Nutrition!  Sure, he seems up on
managing formula, but how can a neo be unaware of the tremendous
benefits of bm and be completely unaware of the value of  banked milk?
--
Trying not to grind my teeth,
Denny Rice, RN, IBCLC
Dallas Texas USA

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