Hello All,
     First I need to introduce myself then I must respond to the post
regarding Preemies and breastmilk.
     My name is Patricia Mullen and I have been a Neonatal Nurse for the past
15 years.  I am also a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.  I have not had any formal
training as a Lactation Consultant but I have assisted many mothers with
breastfeeding.  Recently I have become more interested in obtaining further
education and experience as a Lactation Consultant, but I have not decided how
to go about doing that.
     Regarding preemies and breastmilk.  There are some very strange ideas out
there about breastfeeding, breastmilk and prematures (other sick babies too).
     Some of the questions that come to my mind are:  Why does a preemie have
to bottle feed before breastfeeding?  Why is it considered wrong for a mother
to "allow" her preemie to "find" the breast when the baby is being held skin
to skin?  Why is breastmilk considered as "dirty" as feces and urine?  (I have
seen people react worse when getting breastmilk on their hands than if it were
pee or poop!  These people obviously don't relies how close the utters are to
the meadow muffins!)  And finally, why are breastfeed babies plotted on growth
charts produced by FORMULA companies?
    I think that some of the foolishness that goes on regarding this issue is
about control.  We don't know exactly how much a baby got with breastfeeding,
so we have to pop a bottle in his mouth "to make sure he got enough."
    From what I know about preemies and feedings, some preemies do not
tolerate fortifiers added to the breastmilk.  So why not stop the fortifier
and give them the calcium and phosphorus that they need as a medication.
    I have never heard a physician tell a mother that her milk was too rich
for her baby.  I guess that would make it sound better than formula!  (Can't
have that.)  Usually, the moms are told that it is not good enough and other
stuff has to be added to it to make it more like preemie formula.  (which BTW
isn't tolerated that well either)
    Jay, you asked what this mom can do to convince her Drs that EBM is the
best thing for her baby.  I would ask the Dr. "how is that artificial stuff
going to protect my baby from hospital acquired infections?"
    Personally I wonder if we wouldn't be better off referring to breastmilk
as Mother's milk.  For it is the only the mother (not just any boob) that can
produce milk for her child.
    Truthfully I am usually very reserved, you probably wouldn't have guessed
that from the above post.
    Thank you all for providing this forum for sharing and learning.
Pat Mullen
Florida, USA

PS:  What does TIA mean?