Our public health nurses use the less expensive scales most of the time - as
they are just monitoring "gross" weight changes (week to week or month to
month).  However, we also have 2 of more expensive scales (one for each
Public Health Nursing office) for when I make home visits or when they are
monitoring a mom for me and are observing a feeding and doing pre-post
weight checks.  The less expensive models will not measure that kind of
change (correct to 2 grams vs. correct to 7-10 grams), which we need to see
for that type of evaluation.

.and before anyone says I'm becoming too "equipment oriented" - I've been an
LC since 1985, an LLLL since 1975 and USED to think that I could evaluate
good intake by observing a feeding - until I started using the scale and
realizing how much I was missing (in both directions - thinking a baby had
gotten little, when they had gotten quite a bit, as well as thinking a baby
had swallowed quite a bit and finding only .3 oz change).

I DO NOT use this with every mom - it's not necessary!  However, with these
early preemie discharges and moms with medical conditions such as PCOS, I
believe I am providing more complete information to the mom and in my
charting when I can document that on my visit on Thursday I measured .3 oz
intake and my visit on Saturday I observed and measured 1.5 oz intake,
together with my other documentation of infant appearance and behavior and
mom's evaluation and reports.  (In this case a mom with a 32 week-er who was
PCOS!)

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC

I have had to change my e-mail address.  It is now:
mailto:[log in to unmask]




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