Permission to post.

A friend of mine is also a client. 3 weeks ago she had her baby at 33 weeks 
gestation (he is 36 week 3 days today) and she emailed me questions about the 
NICU and scheduled feedings. I haven't yet worked with a baby currently in the 
NICU, so I thought I'd ask your wide range of experiences. Is this routine 
across NICUs? Doesn't it seem odd to expect a twenty minute feed when full term 
babies often eat for a shorter time? 


"Nicu is very scheduled (for reasons I understand) but my mothering  through 
breastfeeding is not oriented to clocks and timed feedings. This  is making it 
difficult for me (& baby) to get in full feedings.  Their policy is to 
supplement w/expressed breastmilk when the nursing  session lasts less than 
twenty minutes. They do use a sliding scale to  determine how much to give. I 
know that he can take in more than an  ounce (which is 30 ml a full feeding is 
50 ml) in ten minutes (one of  the nurses is working with me & we weighed him 
before & after).  In your exp/understanding is baby going to be able to meet 
their  expectations of a 20min feed? I know of course that it all depends on  
baby etc. I just don't want him to have to stay at hospital extra long  just 
because of a possibly outdated policy. To be fair, the staff &  Dr. are 
beautifully pro-breastfeeding and go out of their way to  provide support."

I searched the archives and found info that was several years old. Any thoughts 
on current practice? Maybe some links to research?

Thanks!!
Cassidy IBCLC, LLL
in central Oklahoma




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