Thank you Virginia. Great post. Kathleen


Kathleen B. Bruce RN BSN IBCLC

HeritageWoolSamplers

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HeritageWoolSamplers
[log in to unmask]
Williston, Vermont USA




On Sun, Oct 11, 2015 at 6:44 PM, Virginia Thorley <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> I note the concerns of Jacquie in New Zealand and Rachel in Norway about
> the routine supplementation of newborns on the flimsiest of excuses. You
> have both wondered why.
>
> Unfortunately, we are up against a long cultural history of early
> supplementation. In living memory, in the 1960s and 1970s supplementation
> was given in the belief that colostrum wasn't enough (measuring it against
> the perceived "norm" of artificial feeding). In Europe in the eighteenth
> century(1, 2) and - in England at least - into the first three decades of
> the nineteenth century (3), colostrum was withheld and a variety of other
> foods given, either for several days or for the first 24 hours. In the
> intervening years, this suspicion hasn't gone away. Often, this suspicion
> of inadequacy was applied at any time during the period when the mother was
> breastfeeding, not just in the first few days, as generations of
> advertising messages reflected (4).
>
> Health staff still don't understand about the comfortable stomach capacity
> of newborns and that colostrum falls into the "Goldilocks zone": not too
> much, not too little, and just right. (Since astrophysicists use the
> "Goldilocks zone" image in another context, I see it as a good metaphor for
> my purpose here.) In the settings in which you work, it looks as if the
> criterion for supplementation is - in effect - being alive and breathing!
>
> References are below. Just scroll down.
>
> Virginia
>
> Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA
> Cultural historian of the history of medicine
> Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
>
> References:
> 1) Cadogan W. An essay upon nursing, and the management of children, from
> their birth to three years of age. By a physician.  1748: London, J.
> Roberts.
> 2) Rosen von Rosenstein  N. Graire des maladies des enfants. (French
> trans), 1778: Paris: Chez Pierre-Guillaume Cavallier. [Originally published
> in Swedish in 1771.]
> 3) Smith FE. The people's health. London: Croom Helm, 1979.
> 4) Thorley V. PhD thesis. University of Queensland, 2007.
>
> Jacquie Nutt wrote:
>  I must be missing something, but I cannot think of a single reason why a
> baby would NEED to be supplemented in the first 48 hours if s/he was going
> to the breast at least occasionally..... Is there one single medical reason
> for a
> health professional to advise formula supplements for a breastfed baby on
> Day 1 or 2? ....  the number of babies who come out of the
> hospital having been supplemented within the first couple of hours, even
> when the mums committed fully to exclusive breastfeeding in antenatal
> classes.  The reasons for "medically advised" supplements include, "your
> baby is cold", "your baby is too small", "your baby is too big"....
>
>              ***********************************************
>
> Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
> To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
> Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
> COMMANDS:
> 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email:
> set lactnet nomail
> 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
> 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
> 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
>

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome