Yes, yes, teach the moms to make their own formula at bedside. Moms
should know right away that formula is NOT easier than breastfeeding.
They should provide their own bottles as well. The hospital does not
give nursing bras to BF moms. Nurses should not be feeding any babies,
and they should not be making up formula. This will actually help moms to
adjust to this new person in their life. Rather than treating mom like
she is in a first class hotel, then sending her home where there is no
help, and no one to make bottles for her, and no one to teach her how to
comfort this baby she doesn't even know.
This is really more important than you know. No matter what the
education level, I periodically run across parents who have been mixing the
formula wrong, leaving it at room temp WAY too long, etc. I run across
more of those than I do the mom's with FTT BF babies!
As far as Jon Ahrendsen's concern about the 40% who are still formula
feeding, people simply do not always do what is best for themselves or
their families. No matter how much education about smoking or healthy
diet, some people choose to light up "cancer sticks" and to eat diets
loaded with sugar, fat, and/or dismembered foods. (Things like white flour
in pasta, bread, cookies, donuts, etc, etc) while whole foods make rare
appearances. Yeech! My continuing wonderment is that we have this
wonderful information glut in our society, yet we do things in the old ways
as if we are not capable of learning... Michelle Scott, RD,MA,IBCLC
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