THose of you that have been on the list for a while know tat these routine
birth practices are a MAJOR pet peeve for me.  The problems were
unnecessary vigorous pharyngeal suctioning with bulb and or mechanical
suction devices as well as gastric suctioning, particularly after a baby
had BF right after birth.  We had problems with this particular practice at
a couple of area hospitals a few years back.  It is still a problem but not
as widespread as it used to be.

We nipped it in the bud as we trained our nurses and physicans as Neonatal
Resuscitation Providers.  Almost of our instructors  were either LCs or
CBEs.  We also have a very BF friendly pediatrician on our faculty as well,
who has made a few heads roll when colostrum has been sucked out of his
patients tummies "because that's what we've always done".  I remember him
giving several nursery nurses a very hard time for unnecessary vigorous
suctioning of the pharynx while I was circulating for cesarean births.  (I
was an OB nurse for the first part of my career, before I worked full-time
as an educator.)

As we trained the NRP providers, we made specific points as we taught and
tested the participants about suctioning.  We reviewed and discussed how
these practices were unnecessary and detrimental to the infant
physiologically.  Having our pediatrician on the faculty especially helped
drive our message home with the FPs OBs, Peds and CRNAs in attendance, as
they were occasionally doing the same thing or encouraging the nurses to
suction the heck out of this kids. Some even had routine gastric suctioning
as a part of their routine admission orders for the nursery. They didn't
have to deal with the feeding problems later on-they just told moms to
formula feed (you know, that breastfeeding sacrificed on the altar of
ignorance thing...).

Jack Newman posted info on the Widtrom et al article.  Another classic
reference I use to validate the hazards of pharyngeal suction
(bradycardia,arrhythmias, laryngospasm and disruption of pre-feeding
behavior) is Enkin, M Keirse, MJ & Chalmers, I. (1989) A Guide to Effective
Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth.  New York Oxford Press.

Unnecessary vigorous suctioning is one of the MANY routine birth practices
that are detrimental to breastfeeding.  I'll save that soapbox for another
day. I'm out of wind!

Maurenne Griese, RNC, BSN, CBE, CCE
Manhattan, KS  USA

who's now thinking that turning 40 won't be as bad as turning 30, thanks to
Jack and the 40 yo's on Lactnet!