Dear Friends:
    My newest hat is that of insurance nurse for an agency. I show up during
the first week to weigh baby and do postpartum care of both.
    I called a woman today whose baby is 4 days old, to schedule a visit with
her. After the introductions and date-setting, I asked her how bf was going.
She said she'd stopped because baby was hungry all the time and she didn't
have enough milk.
    I replied instantly, "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. What happened?"
    We discussed it some more. Sounded like she was misinterpreting baby's
feeding cues as signs of insufficient milk.
    I asked her to please reconsider, that she was making an important health
decision for her baby, as important as using a carseat.
    She said that she had wanted to breastfeed, but that the baby was
sleeping better now and not feeding so much. And she had given him her milk for those
first few days.
    I said that I didn't care if she breastfed or not, but that it was
necessay to have all the information about this important health care decision. I
said that I wanted her to make an informed decision and that there was a lot of
information now about connections between not breastfeeding and sickness (like
leukemia and diabetes). I said that the formula companies are not telling the
whole story.
    She sounded like she would try again, at least until I get there tomorrow
to help. We talked about squeezing some milk out, putting it on a spoon,
giving it to baby, and trying to get back to breast.
    I was totally loving and concerned with every word. My intention was to
open her eyes to the impact of her decision, assure her of my support, and
encourage her to stick with it one more day, until I can get there.
    We'll see. I'll keep you all posted.
    warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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