Lactpals,

I do urge you, as Jack has, to download the WHO guidelines on Hypoglycaemia.

 One of the major contributors to this paper, a Neonatologist and lately, a
breastfeeding mother, told an audience (I attended) of breastfeeding friendly
professionals at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital, London, that not only
were the paper reagent strips wildly, wildly inaccurate and totally unsuitable
for testing hypoglycaemia in the newborn but that, and I quote "You may as
well spit in the wind" for an accurate result from using an glucometer
machine.   Neither of these systems were designed for testing hypoglycaemia in
newborns.  Imo it is shocking that we should be routinely testing healthy term
newborns and even more shocking using test equipment that will give rubbish
information and then acting upon that rubbish information causing the cascade
of intervention.  Jack, can you remind us what you call this - something like
the Uylesses Syndrome?

Something else to think of - have you observed how staff carry out heel
pricks?  There is a wide range of practice here, from the gentlest of handling
to those who are unsympathetic in the way they hold the baby and in the way of
sticking the needle in, twisting it, even.  I think I saw a paper on
observation of the enormous range of handling/managing the heel prick - maybe
it was in MIDIRS?

kind regards, Helen Woodman, NCT BfC, Storrington, West Sussex, UK.