Hi!
It has been a long time since I have been on LACTNET. I have been very involved with our NM BF Task Force and have taken a part-time position as an LC at one of our local hospitals. 

At the present time I am looking at conducting a research project to help us answer the question:
"How long can we wait for a baby to nurse in the first 24 hours of life?" The Researcher from UNM who is helping me doesn't think this is an issue. "You feed babies on demand," she says.

Although there is information on a Recovery Period of sleep for newborns after birth, I can find no data/research from which this concept is derived. It seems that it has come from anecdotal/clincal/informal observational data.  In addition, I find little data that reports normal feeding patterns in the first 24 hours of life.  What hospitals seem to be basing their "guidelines" is the data from Yamauchi, 1990 and deCarvalho, 1982 & 1983, that is the more you breastfeed the less wt loss, hyperbili, and more milk on day 3&5. The magic numbers, I think, came from deCarvalho. Outcomes were better with more than 8 feedings. So, what our nurses are doing is getting moms to wake their babies and feed q3hrs.(And you all know how successful that is when a baby is sleepy.) Are we creating sleepy babies because we do not let them sleep? Are we doing too much with babies making them sleepy...hearing tests, hepb vacccines, nurse exam, MD exam etc. Do babies feed frequently in the first 24 hours of life if they are mainly in close contact with the mother...skin to skin?
I need to get some feedback as to what others are doing with babies in the first 24 hours. If you are letting babies totally go on demand, what is your evidence? Since I have not been on LACTNET for a while, if this has been discussed LATELY, send me to the archives. Is this a burning issue?
Thanks so much to all of you that do so much!
Carol L'Esperance

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