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Date: | Thu, 6 Jan 2005 12:05:58 -0600 |
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You asked ...
"How do you keep baby 2 from going the same way as baby 1. What kind of
hospital policies do you have to preserve breastfeeding in situations like
these."
First of all, mom has to want to breastfeed and put some effort into it.
Some women give lip service to the notion that they really want to
breastfeed but if you look at their behavior what they are really doing is
bottle feeding.
I find that women who want to nurse are usually pumping at least 4 times in
24 hours and actively soliciting BF help. Those ladies that are pumping once
a day, at that point her supply is so low that a lot of intervention will be
needed to get baby to breast. A milk supply of 2 ounces is extremely
difficult to work with for most mothers and babies. Meaning some kind of
supplementation, and the SNS is not that easy to use (moms don't always find
it easy or like it). Using an SNS with a nipple shield makes it harder for
the mother to do by herself. And it will take her a couple of weeks to even
see what kind of success she will have.
The other consideration is that if mom didn't get off to a good start in the
first week, her milk production may not come back up much. She may have
missed her window of opportunity. She will most likely have to continue to
supplement.
Other people has answered about hospital practices so I will share a little
bit of my experience with you. When I have mothers like this, I ask them if
they want to learn to put baby to breast OR, are they happy giving bottles
like they are now? I also ask them how do they feel when their baby cries
because I have found the majority of mothers won't "make" their baby nurse
if he resists and cries. They feel baby has chosen the bottle and they want
to "support baby's choice." (Yes, I actually hear it said that way.)
For those moms who choose to bottlefeed, I at least try to get them pumping
more -- even a manual pump is better than nothing.
I wish you were here in my part of Houston. It would be great to have a
physician who cares as much as you do.
Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC
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