Hi all!

Tell me what you think about this one?  A mom of a 2 1/2 month old BF boy
took him to the ped. for his 2 mo. check up.  Mom mentions to dr.that baby
has b.m. every 2 to 3 days.  Dr. does digital rectal exam and diagnoses
"congenital rectal obstruction".  Mom tells dr. that baby is having no pain
with b.m.'s and no trouble with b.m.'s, normal breastmilk stools. Dr. says
it's necessary to do the following procedure: he must insert a gloved finger
in the baby's rectum and that it will bleed a little, just like when a woman
has intercourse for the first time.  Parents are to repeat procedure every
day for two weeks and it will be corrected.  If it is NOT done, it will
correct on it's own by one year of age.  Mom states she will NOT perform
procedure on her baby.  Dr. says that she can bring baby in to him every day
for next 2 weeks so he can do it.  Dad (also present) states he WILL do it.
As I understood, the procedure was to enlarge the rectum to make it easier
for him to pass a more solid stool when he begun having them.  I talked to
mom on the last day of this 2 week regime when she related this story to me
for the first time and she was still upset by the whole thing.

Has anyone heard of this? Or is this just another uninformed physicians
overreaction to the normal stooling patterns of the BF baby?

Melody Engberg,IBCLC, LLLL
Methodist Alliance Health Serv.
Memphis, TN
Brad Engberg
[log in to unmask]