Dear Friends:
When I came to work at the hospital today, I saw a mother of a 9-day old
premie, planning to breastfeed, only had a hospital grade pump in the
hospital. They were going home today, the baby has been in the NICU since birth.
She still wants to breastfeed. No one has helped her, except to set her up
with a hospital grade pump.
When I came into her room, she had finished giving him 2 oz of human
milk substitute. I showed her skin to skin, and that formula-full little boy
started rooting and nuzzling and even held her nipple in his mouth while shoving
his face into her breast.
This was their first intimate contact since birth. Maybe it was good
that his tummy was full, so they had a whole contact just to become acquainted?
Maybe it's good that she only pumped some; her supply is down because of
insufficient stimulation. The good news is that her breast is soft, and her
nipples are great, and she is leaking at the thought of him. I suggested that
s2s and hand expression and staying with him 24/7 are her tickets to
breastfeeding.
The pediatrician came to take the baby away for the discharge
procedures. She then hand expressed some milk very quickly, into a teaspoon. She was
thrilled. But I couldn't give the milk to the baby, because he was back in the
nursery. Because of infection concerns, I wouldn't walk through the hallway
with it. And I simply could not throw it away. So I asked her to taste it. She
made a face. I said that mine tasted like cotton candy. She asked, "Really?"
I fed it to her.
She savoured it, saying that it did taste milky, "but better than that
Similac".
I will call her tomorrow and see how they are doing.
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com
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