I apologize for the personal question here but am a bit flustered at the
moment and don't even know where to start searching for information (and
thank you for hospital wireless access!).

I'll be likely delivering my son (33wks today) in the very near future
because of premature rupture of membranes last night.  When the NICU fellow
came in to speak with me this morning about what to expect, she said that if
he's born before 34 weeks, they "need" to culture mom's breastmilk before
giving it -- I'm not sure exactly what they expect to find, but she said
that they "need to protect the little ones' guts."  And when I told her I'd
never heard of this before, she said that she hadn't really either, but that
several of the NICU attendings, who are foreign-trained, routinely do it in
their countries (Egypt?  or Colombia?) so it's become policy here.  Does
this really happen elsewhere in the U.S.???  It sounds like they're
basically ensuring that my baby will receive formula (no donated human milk
at this hospital).  Any ideas on how I can potentially protest this, or is
this a practice norm that we've just got to live with???

Thanks so much,
Sarah Reece-Stremtan M.D. (yes, the epidural lady; I'll probably ask to
forgo the fentanyl in my epidural this time around, just to see what that's
like)

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