There should be no flames sent toward Kathy.  I am actually in a very
similar situation at my work place as you are.  I just want to clarify some  points
for our LACTNET group.
Slowly and with as much persistence we need to educate the people and
parents we work with.  We will have to give in to some pressure and keep  within our
scope of practice.  That said I still feel we need to continue  to point out
evidence based information to all around us so over time they will  know we
are always coming from the same direction.

Evidence:
    Babies in the first 24 hours only need colostrum,  baby's feedings will
have intermittent swallowing of amounts ranging from  7-14cc.
    Babies are recovering from birth, this can take up  to 3 days.
    Mother's milk volume increases every day postpartum  with the largest
increase occurring 3-5 days PP.
    Babies have an extra layer of fluid on board at  birth and can loss up to
7-10% in the first 3-4 days before starting to  gain.
    Babies respond better when skin-to-skin, showing  feeding cues and arouse
better than when separated.  Also maintain their  temperatures and stabilize
their blood sugars.
    Mothers sleep better when their babies are with  them.
    The sooner and more frequently the breast are  stimulated and milk is
extracted, the faster that Lactogenisis II occurs.

These are statements we can continue to repeat.  Over time hopefully  staff
and parents will hear it and feel confident in it.  In the mean time  we make
compromises.  :-(
The next step we can take and this is what we are working on at our
hospital; are the 10 steps to Baby Friendly.  Included in these steps is  rooming-in.
I think this is huge.  What Kathy and Ester pointed out  as problems with
non-latching babies only worsens with mother/baby  separation.
Ester your comments about when to intervene with a non-latching baby.   I
don't think if they were left with their mothers for 24 hours using  skin-to-skin
that they would not make an effort to root.  If they are  rooting and not
able to latch that is when I would have the mother expressing  colostrum into the
baby's mouth or on a spoon.  This counts as  intake/feeding.
Someday I hope to see the majority of hospitals as Baby Friendly and this
will because of all of you hanging in there fighting the good fight and sticking
 with evidence based information.
Ann Perry, RN IBCLC
Boston, MA

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html