On Aug. 6, Laurie Wheeler wrote:

>On Aug 4, judy k. dunlap posted about poor early feeders and that they may
>well result from all the OB interventions.  She stated she does not
recommend
>a pump til 24 hours because little colostrum is obtained, mom feels she
>doesn't have milk, and nipples are being stimulated already by many attempts
>(though unsuccessful) at attachment.
      <snip>
>I feel that the breasts need to know someone out there wants milk,
>and if the baby is not saying so, then the pump will.

Laurie, I don't have the newest edition of Ruth Lawrence's book here at home,
but I'm sure she states in it that production of milk isn't dependent on
removal of milk from the breast for about three days after delivery.  It
isn't stated at that point, but I assume she means lactation can be initiated
simply by nipple stimulation in the first few days.  If I'm dealing with a
NICU mom, I do try to get the pumping started within the first 12 to 18
hours, but sometimes those moms are so overwhelmed that they can hardly hear
my instructions until the following day.

>I am always learning and rethinking my approaches

Aren't we all!

>and in general am becoming
>less interventionist.  Comments on this?

I truly believe the less we interfere, especially with gadgets, the better,
but I'm a "fixer," and it's hard for me to sit on my hands sometimes.  The
trick is to decide when less is more, I suppose.  The answer isn't the same
for every woman, so we're back to art as opposed to science.

Judy D in WV