Hi Everyone,
this is going to be a vent because there is little else I can do. A lady
I know has recently had a baby who was small-for-dates (5lbs 2oz). He
didn't have much of a suck initially, but was doing OK with a lot of
effort on the part of the mother. Then, at about day 5, he developed
jaundice. The mother was told categorically that her milk was not enough
for him (he was under the bili-lights and in danger of dehydration), and
that the choice was an IV or a bottle of ABM. No other choice was
mentioned. She was desperately upset about this, having been determined
to breastfeed, but OTOH, didn't want her newborn baby to undergo the
pain of an IV. She consented to let him have bottles of glucose and of
ABM.

She got the baby back on the breast within 3 days, but now he is nipple
confused and latches on exceptionally poorly. She has started to get
sore nipples, which is a worrying sign. She is supplementing, and the
amounts she is supplementing is creeping up. Far worse than the physical
problem of getting the baby back to the breast is the mother's attitude
to breastfeeding: she now feels her milk is inadequate (in quality as
well as quantity), feels the doctors endorsed ABM as being *better* for
her baby and believes that the baby doesn't like breastfeeding. She has
the impression that they told her he would have died without the ABM - a
belief I totally disagree with (although I haven't said so to her) - my
baby was far worse jaundiced than hers but my Ped doesn't give ABM to
jaundiced babies, and hasn't for over 20 years. Incidently, the hospital
*policy* is that breastfed babies should be cup or spoon fed in such a
situation. The NICU nurses seem oblivious to this :-(

I am not a breastfeeding counsellor (yet), so I am just trying to
encourage her to seek professional advice, passing on LLL/NCT leaflets
and have tried to boost her confidence in breastfeeding but I feel I am
losing the battle. I am trying to be positive because that baby is
getting some BM and the mother is still positive about the general idea
of breastfeeding even though I fear she will wean soon. I am dreading
hearing her say she has weaned because of "lack of milk" because that
does so much damage when other mothers hear it. I am just *so* angry at
the way this has been mishandled and at the appalling ignorance of some
NICU staff in Britain re. breastfeeding. How do you handle that anger?
--
Anna (mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995 and Alice, born 11th Sept 1996)

Turnpike evaluation. For Turnpike information, mailto:[log in to unmask]