Hello Lacnet Ladies,
I am a breastfeeding educator in Victoria BC, Canada. I was recently
called by a mom (who has given me permission to post her story) whose
baby had been apprehended by the Ministry for Children and Families at 3
days. The baby was placed in foster care. I don't know why the baby
was removed from the mom. On day 5, the mother started to pump and
freeze her milk. She gave it to her social worker who gave it to the
foster mother for the baby. The foster mother thought the milk was an
odd colour. The mother said that on the first couple of days she
pumped, the milk still had the yellow-gold colostrum colour. When it
was frozen, the colour turned from yellow-gold to a red-orange colour.
The foster-mother took the milk to her family doctor who said its colour
indicated that the birth-mother was on some sort of medication and that
the birth-mother's doctor would need to sign a note saying she was not
on any contra-indicated medication. So the birth-mother went to her
doctor and he wrote the required note, confirming that the mother was on
no substances, legal or illegal, that could affect the safety of her
milk. The note went back through channels to the foster-mother's doctor
who said no, this was not sufficient, the milk would need to be
analyzed. The birth-mother's doctor argued that this was un-necessary
and refused to do it.
All this happened over the Christmas Holidays, so everything took even
longer than it would normally and so, the long and the short of it is
that the baby did not get any breastmilk for six weeks.
Meanwhile the mother pumped and pumped (25-30 ounces a day!) and fought
to regain custody of her baby. She was successful in getting her baby
back and I was called in to help get the baby back to the breast. It
worked! Some skin-to-skin and standing up and jiggling him to calm him
as she put him to the breast and she latched him twice within the first
hour that we tried! He has now been fully breast-fed for a week.
My question to you wise women has to do with a letter I want to write to
the Ministry for Children and Families about the fact that this baby was
deprived of his right to breastmilk. I want to know what references you
would suggest with regards to breast-milk colour. I have the
Breastfeeding Atlas which shows some darker-coloured colostrum, but
nothing actually orange. I also wonder where I could find something
that discusses a baby's right to breastmilk. I want to talk about the
suspicions that are inherent in some attitudes to breastmilk - that it
is a body fluid which might not be adequate in composition or quantity.
I want to remind the professionals concerned that giving a baby formula
is not without risk and is not a decision that should be taken lightly.
I would be grateful for any suggestions you might have about sources to
which I might direct the professionals involved in this case.
Thank you for your help,
Eva
--
Eva Bild, MA, CD (DONA), LCCE
Certified Doula, Certified Childbirth Educator, Breastfeeding Educator
Mothering Touch Centre
975 Fort Street
Victoria, BC
250-595-4905 - Fax: 250-595-4915
www.motheringtouch.ca
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
|
