Hi.

Recently, I had a client whose 3 week old baby was not gaining and not
nursing well at the breast.  Formulas tried for supplementation were not
being tolerated. The pediatrician referred her to me because he thought
a SNS could work in this situation.  However, as sole breadwinner for
the family, the mother was going back to work the next week and thought
she could not afford an SNS or to rent a pump to help increase her milk
supply, even though there was a possiblity insurance might pay for these
things.

At a conference this past spring, I heard Dr. Jack Newman speak of using
a 5 french feeding tube as a temporary, cheaper alternative to the SNS.
He describes use of this tube coming from a container for the
supplement- "usually a feeding bottle with an enlarged hipple hole" - in
his Handout #5 Lactation Aid, Revised January 1998.

If I had a set-up like this that did not cost much, I feel this mother
might have tried it.
Where is a good place I could order a 5 fr feeding tube that is 36
inches long?  (The Handout #5 does not specify  these measurements, but
Newman mentioned this later in his talk.) I found one site on the
internet where I could get a case of 10 silicone feeding tubes this size
for $130.  Is that the cheapest I could get?  I know that silicone is
soft & flexible but would another material work?  I wonder what Dr.
Newman uses & where does he get them.

I have used the Starter SNS some, but the package says they are for one
day usage only.  Can they be used beyond one day?

Thank you for listening.

Marcella Snow, BSN, RN, IBCLC
Louisiana

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