Lactnetters,
the following statement caught my eye:
>I encourage early and frequent stimulation of the breast by the
>baby, but do not really worry about good feeds if the baby is less than two
>days old (esp if the mom had demerol/meperidine, sim to pethidine). Most of
>my pediatricians back this. I encourage Kangaroo care, hand expression and
>not allowing baby to suck on anything else (ie, fingers, pacifiers or bottle
>nipples).

My thoughts are at a tangent to this thread, but in most UK hospitals,
the one part of this that would most certainly not be encouraged, for
full-term babies especially is kangaroo care. In fact, it is a strict
rule that no one walks around carrying a baby - they have to be pushed
about in those see-through plastic tanks on a little trolley. I once got
told off for walking up and down, rocking my baby up and down, upright
on my chest (which always settled her) to burp her (long story).

Needless to say, co-sleeping is also strongly discouraged.

I am just wondering what effect these policies may be having, in
effectively telling mothers "don't pick up your baby" and implying that
there is danger in a mother walking around holding her baby? When I was
visiting a friend's new baby the other day, in a hospital, I noticed how
few mothers were actually picking up their babies - most were admiring
them from afar. When they go home, baby is transfered from the goldfish
bowl crib to a car-seat and often, once home, from car-seat to Moses
basket or bouncy cradle. They become what some parents on a parenting
list I know of, call "bucket babies".

This was just a thought, but it suddenly struck me that these behaviors
are probably not conducive to breastfeeding success.
--
Anna H.
mailto: [log in to unmask]
http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/

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