Hello Wise Ones,

I have a mother who is mentally handicapped and severely socially and economically disadvantaged. She voluntarily placed her baby in foster care at birth. Baby is 3 months old now. She would like to provide her breast milk and be allowed to put baby to breast at her weekly supervised visits. Her caseworker is concerned that this would be detrimental to baby's well-being. Her caseworker does not believe that mom is pumping as she reported to us. Her court paperwork does not address breastfeeding and just states that she will follow the recommendations of the caseworker. 

I am attending a service coordination meeting tomorrow and am trying to prepare. I found this article from Lactnetter Karleen Gribble and have requested it from our Medical Librarian: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/2/434.abstract?sid=ab1e8018-594d-4628-bf46-36947fe6fc25 I have reviewed our state's foster care manual and breastfeeding is not addressed. 

Can anyone recommend any other resources, references, or offer any tips for handling this situation?

Thank you!
Maria

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