thanks you deb for your reply about nicus - this is actually part of a
serious permanent rant i have about hospitals, both "normal"(not) maternity
wards and nicus. if someone in my rather lowly state, that is, a volunteer
with an internationally known breastfeeding support group (can't say the name
or i will be flamed), is well aware of the information concerning energy
expenditure differences between bf and bottles, then why shouldn't NICU staff
be even more aware? and why wouldn't the neonatologists be passionately
interested in the method of feeding, and not just leave it to the staff to
determine? one of the cases mentioned involved two twins, healthy, weighing
almost five pounds each at birth. the nicu managed to "cure" one of the
babies of nursing entirely, and the one that does nurse does so vigorously.
even so, the visiting nurse told this mother this same business about "only
nurse ten minutes, then give ebm in the bottle, it tires this baby out too
much."

this particular hospital has IBCLCs on staff, and has had more than one
inservice about breastfeeding. this is a big town and at least one or two
people here know this stuff, so why are mothers and babies getting stiffed
this way? so you can see that this is indeed the tip of a big iceberg with
me, and i am humbly grateful for anyone who works in these settings who feels
like shedding any more light on this.

i love martha stewart but today her newspaper column featured some overly
clever suggestions for "matching baby shower with mom's style." well, you can
guess what kind of moms she knows, for this article featured such suggestions
as:

"To set a whimsical table, use pacifiers with looped handles as napkin rings"

"Fill baby bottles with candies as favors."

"Flowers, a symbol of life, are essential. Instead of big, fussy
arrangements, fill children's cups, baby bottles or miniature glass milk
bottles with colorful blooms"

Later she suggests a diaper bag stuffed with "essentials," such as pacifiers,
as a gift.

i am sure that you will want, as do i, to share with martha that baby bottles
are, technically, a symbol of death, and if you wish to do so, here is the
address:

 <A HREF="[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>

carol b