Dear Lacnet pals,

I have been nomail for a whiIe and since coming back on stream I am a bit
behind on my recent mails but here are a few thoughts.  Oh, and I hope USers
had a lovely Thanksgiving with loved ones.

So here goes, please tell me,

What is the difference between 'Test Weighing' and 'Weighing' ?

What is 'Test' Weighing, is there a set procedure, a protocol to follow to
make it a 'Test'?

What might 'Test' weighing convey to the breastfeeding mother?

I suggest in non-sympathetic HCP hands it is extremely undermining to the
mother's self-confidence and thus, the burden on the mother to make what is
perceived at that time to be the 'perfect/expected' amount of milk at each
feed, is what breaks her.

I am cynical, I only seem to have heard the word 'Test Weighing' used when
there is a breastfeeding dyad and not a bottle feeding one.

Are the scales calibrated on a regular basis (weekly, monthly)?  Are the
scales treated with respect and not roughly handled by other members of staff
as a sensitive scientific instrument should be?

My mind is not closed to weighing being used as a tool and I am comforted in
the knowledge that we lactnetters know its strengths but never forget its
weaknesses.

Kind regards
Helen Woodman, National Childbirth Trust Breastfeeding Counsellor,
Storrington, West Sussex, UK