Sally Myer asks how long expressed colostrum is enough for these babies
before formula should be considered.
This has been discussed at great length in the past but I can't remember
what the subject lines have been.  Check the archives and use imagination
and I am sure there will be lots of food for thought.
Basically, with regular expression, transitional milk will appear long
before the need for formula would ever arise.
Sally notes that mothers get scant amounts of colostrum by pumping.  Many of
us have observed this, and have observed that manual expression into a spoon
or medicine cup yields more and the result is more easily fed to the baby.
Or, having mother simply learn expression with baby beside her, preferably
lying in bed together, and letting it just drip into baby's mouth, enables
mother to rest for those first hours or days, while assuring baby's intake.
It also maximizes the opportunity for baby to 'get it' and start latching
on.

There are also some good references in the archives to articles on
hypoglycemia and the very exaggerated fear of same which now prevails in the
same units which 30 years ago kept babies in a state of starvation for the
first 12-24 hours, also on medical grounds.

If non-latching newborns is a very common problem, one might want to look at
the birth practices in the institution to find out why so many otherwise
normal infant humans seem to lack one of the most basic tools for survival.

Rachel Myr
obstinately defending normal birth in Kristiansand, Norway

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