Here's an update on the island baby:

The maternity nurse just phoned me at the end of her night shift.
Baby got fed through the night and and 6 or 7  60ml containers of the
Milk Bank milk.  She had 5 voids (difficult to estimate as baby still
not in diapers), and 4 breastmilk poops from (9:30 PM til 7 AM).  The
house next door was burning down so there was also lots of outside
noise and activity keeping the family awake!

Thank-you to everyone who responded so far.  In view of this
reassuring report I would like to follow Dr. Newman's protocol for
feeding baby at the breast.  I will share everyone's suggestions with
the other care providers.

There have been some questions on the posts which I will answer
collectively:

Are the parents on drugs/drink?

I also wondered this and can't rule it out.  However they spent a
week living in the home of the wet nurse (except when they were out
and about visiting and at the doctor's), and although she relayed a
number of concerns this is not one of them.

Are they hiding something from social services authority/police?

They are on social assistance, and have regular contact with a
financial worker, so the "system" already knows about them.

Parental IQ?  Father didn't say much, but mother is quite
articulate, and appears to be of normal intelligence.  She does not
embrace mainstream culture, and is into herbal/natural preparations,
and celestial thinking.

Is this woman really the birth mother?

This is a small enough community that she is known.  She did have
some prenatal visits with another physician in town.  She was known
to a doula, and she also presented in emergency with a newborn and a
placenta.

Thank you so much to Lactnet and everyone who makes this wonderful
supportive network happen!

I will continue to fill you in on this story.

Suzanne