Sue writes:

Were  they?  Or was this a sham?    As lactation consultants, I doubt  many 
of us would have any problem Feeding the Baby, if the baby was indeed in  
need of calories, STAT.   Would we take Feed the Baby action at  5%?  Highly 
unlikely.  At 10%?  Probably not, unless we would  see lethargy, etc.  So 
how can this excuse so blithely be accepted as  appropriate- "the babies were 
losing a lot of weight."  No, they were  not. I want to know why that belief 
is allowed to sit out there so  unchallenged.  Or, was that part of the 
purpose of the "study" in the  first place?  Define the terms and win the war?
~ Wow, Sue: "defining  the terms and  win the war" is so profound  and  so 
well said.  I kept thinking, "5 % is now considered  'losing a lot of 
weight'? " By saying that babies are losing a lot of weight,  the perspective is 
forced  into needing  to supplement, rather than re-looking at what is or is 
NOT a lot of weight  loss...they start with a false assumption then justify 
the intervention  based  on it. Yes we would  all supplement a lethargic or 
spiraling-down  baby. The amount of wrong assumptions and  assertions out 
there is staggering, on both ends  of the spectrum. I agree with Mary Kay,  I 
thought this would  get easier as I got older  and  breastfeeding  was 
recognized  by more folks as a critically important health issue. Nope. Still 
have docs  telling moms wrong information or very discouraging  information in 
the guise of being supportive and  "laid-back"  about breastfeeding.  
"Pumping is a pain, don't  bother,just breastfeed"  with a baby who cannot move 
more than 10ml at a feed  before shutting down.  "It's normal for babies to 
lose up to TWENTY % of their birthweight, or not be  back at birthweight at 3 
weeks, or chew your nipples raw, ALL moms have pain in  the first MONTH, 
don't  believe your lactation consultant about nursing being comfortable before 
a  month."    Sigh.  If they are defining  the abnormal as normal, and  the 
normal as abnormal, moms and  babies are always caught in the middle.  I 
think I spend  a large portion of every visit trying to help a mom understand  
why I am saying very different  things than the other HCPs she's  seen...

Thank you,
Peace,
Judy

Judy LeVan  Fram, PT, IBCLC, LLLL
Brooklyn, NY,  USA
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