Cherie wrote: <<Two days ago one of my college Infant nutrition students gave
birth at 32 weeks to a 6 pound 2 oz. boy. >>

Cherie,
I work in a level 3 NICU, and several things immediately came to mind when I
read your post. First is the thought that 32-weekers do not weigh 6:2!
Someone's dates were off; this is an appropriate weight for a 36-37-weeker --
in other words, just about term. So my second thought was, what is this baby
doing in the NICU in the first place? Did it have respiratory distress? Was it
depressed at birth? What are the doctors looking for?

In our NICU, the doctors' reasoning is that if the baby is sick enough to be
in there, then its intake needs to be measurable and what they consider
"adequate" according to their formulas. So we do before & after breastfeeding
weights and make up the difference with pumped milk or formula. Unfortunately,
that does usually mean some formula for a little while. I try to soften this
blow for mom by pointing out that if the baby eats, the baby gets discharged
sooner. Then they'll be home, out of the stress of the hospital, and can relax
and breastfeed their own way.

Ideally, babies wouldn't be born prematurely, wouldn't be in the NICU, and
wouldn't be given formula. But just because the baby's start wasn't ideal
doesn't mean it has to stay that way.

Jennifer Herrin, RN, IBCLC
Tulsa, Oklahoma