The UK government recomendation -- to be published any time now as the 4th
edition of the Hall report -- is going to be that -- after the weighing at
birth -- babies are weighed *routinely* FOUR TIMES IN THE FIRST YEAR
(intervals set in the report).  (recommendation leaked in the health
visitor's journal last year).

This is NOT the current practice, which allows mums to come every week to
the child health clinic and get their babies weighed -- and some do.  For a
population of well, healthy babies this is clearly a fairly weird way of
spending government money intended for positive health promotion / needs
monitoring (the role of health visitors  -- the professionals who either do
the weighing or who allocate it the nursery nurses working with/for them).
If this weighing is serving a purpose -- the usual arguement in the British
literature ('coming to the clinic is a social event for mums' or 'it lets
mums know that all is well with their babies') then the interesting question
is why so little has been done to address these needs in a more
direct/honest/targeted way??

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

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