Just a few very quick "legal eagle" thoughts: one, I think that this could
easily be written into dr's orders from the get-go and, two, it could be
easily "contracted" for under the adoption papers (Ideally BOTH!)
As far as doctor's orders are concerned, it would be a simple matter to have
the OB to sign off on these ahead of time. How many times do drs sign off
on the birth plan ahead of time? IMO, this would be very similar to that.
I'm fairly confident that any doctor would be aware of the adoption of the
child which is impending and would take that into account. Now, I also can
see the point of having the adoptive mother undergo a health screening the
same as the birth mother. I do not think that would be unreasonable, but
would be better if it were planned for.
The pre-birth adoption agreements can easily include these provisions. I
would suggest that the (prospective) adoptive mother/family contact the
attorney handling the adoption and have this spelled out in the pre-birth
agreements. (These same sort of agreements would cover the payment of
prenatal expenses, etc.) So, then there is a "contractual" agreement for
the baby to be provided these *oh so biohazardous bodily fluids.* (Yes,
that's very tongue in cheek.)
Covering both of these bases *should* get around any hospital policy to the
contrary. But you know what they say about making things "idiot proof"...
;-D
Shannon Lee Denney
resident attorney on sabbatical/hiatus/graduate school leave
THIS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS LEGAL ADVICE. It is merely off-the-cuff musings
on the subject which I find to be of interest. ;-D
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 20:26:53 -0400
From: LuAnn Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Policies for adoptive nursing in NICU
>Does anyone know if an adoptive mother has the legal right to provide
breast
>milk or breastfeed her baby in the hospital before the adoption is
final?
>Is provision of breast milk to the adopted baby allowed merely because
the
>birth mother gives permission?
>
>We have a case of open adoption in our NICU. The birth mother is
providing
>colostrum/milk "for a while" and the adoptive mother is
working towards
>induced lactation. The staff views the baby's receipt of milk from the
>adoptive mother as donor milk or somehow against our policy, except I
know
>of no such policy.
>My initial response was that the birth mother decides the medical
treatment
>for her baby and thus may give us permission to feed milk from the
adoptive
>mother. Does the birth mother then need to give written authorization to
be
>included in the hospital record? Does the physician need to write an
order
>for the milk to be used?
>Does anyone know of a hospital policy, legal ruling that would apply
here?
>
>Cathy Carnaby, RNC, IBCLC
>Omaha, Nebraska
Cathy, I posted a while back on the this very topic with no pickup on the
thread, so I hope you can generate some discussion .
When an open adoption occured at our hospital with birth mother being aware
of and ok with the adoptive moms desire to nurse shortly after birth, some
felt that there should probably be some type of signed document givng
permission but there was not precident for doing so.
Sadly, our physicians were more concerned about the adoptive mother's HIV
and Hepatitis status and whether she should be tested prior to nursing than
anything else. BTW, watching this adoptive mom place this baby to breast and
having the him latch beautifully with alert loving eyes, is a memory I will
cherish as I was so thrilled to be there and having a small role in briging
them together.
Any legal eagles out there care to respond?
LuAnn Smith
York, PA
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