Dear Friends:
     Ann Perry is wondering how babies that are feeding well in the first 24
hours can loose so much weight.
     With all the IV fluids that mothers are given as the use of birth
technology increases, how can anyone know what a baby's true weight is? A
1-liter bag of IV fluid weighs 2.2 pounds; if a woman has received 3-6 bags
of fluid over a two day period, that is a weight gain of 6.6 to 13.2 pounds
in a relatively short time. Add to that the force of pitocin, which makes the
uterus work harder, pumping more fluid into babies.
     No one is connecting the dots between pumping fluid in during labor and
the fast weight loss in babies in the first day or so after birth. We expect
the mother to have a diuresis after delivery; why not the infant in those
situations?
     Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CCE
craniosacral therapy practitioner
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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