Saw a mother today who is having problems. Baby is 4 days old, has only had 2 'good' feeds, plus some cup feeds . Baby is showing signs of dehydration (midwife gave some water by bottle). Mother is sore, some cracking, engorged, and thoroughly miserable. Baby - no wet nappy for 14 hours. Still meconium. I encouraged to get medical help if midwife doesn't visit again today. Baby is keen to be at breast, but obviously not sucking properly at all. Does a few strange sucks with huge in out movement at corner of mouth, then comes off, but wants to be at breast and feeding. I did not check mouth other than to observe that no tongue tie. (more outside lay counsellor remit IMO). V rapid delivery, 1 hour, following induction (reason history of precipitate labour). Don't see any signs of unusual moulding of head - in fact I was surprised to see so little. Induction was attempted with prostaglandin gel, and both mother and baby reacted badly to this. Mother's lungs were affected, and baby's heartbeat went v low, almost an emergency cs. Mother says she was told it was an allergic reaction. My question is - has anyone heard of this before? Is anyone surprised that this baby is having problems? I suggested pumping to keep options open, I'm not sure she will do this. TIA Mary Broadfoot, Paisley, Scotland [log in to unmask]