In a message dated 8/16/98 9:37:12 AM Central Daylight Time, Victoria writes:

<<  with home births I would say it is
 fairly uncommon for these babies to lose much if any weight after birth,. I
 have never been sure whether this is due to fewer interventions; pit, IV
 fluids etc. or to the fact that mom and baby are never separated. Of course
 weight checks aren't as frequent. >>


Even my  36 week, 5 1/2 lb hospital birthed baby didn't lose weight - but I
didn't have pit, IV, or separation.  He (and my homebirthed daughter) were
weighed frequently in the first few days so I know it wasn't just rapid
recovered weight.

I just think it makes a tremendous difference if we are talking about babies
losing extra water (that they shouldn't have had in the first place) or
actually losing body mass.  Parents (and HCPs) fear that breastfeeding is
causing their babies to waste away when in fact the babies may have just been
naturally smaller than their first weigh would indicate.  There must be more
to this or we surely wouldn't have a "re-gain birth weight within two weeks"
rule of thumb?   It seems that pit and IV fluid doses (and length of exposure)
vary widely and that these things would affect how much extra water weight the
baby packs on.  Assuming that we can't eliminate birth interventions overnight
(sigh) should we measure birth weight differently - maybe at x hours after
birth if that is the amount of time baby takes to diurese?  Is newborn weight
loss considered normal in countries that don't have so many birth
interventions?  What if mom has "natural" (not iatrogenic) edema - will baby
be holding extra fluids at birth?

Elaine Ziska, LLLL
Jackson, MS