I sent a brief letter and a copy of the "Imagine" section of "Beauty and the
Breast" to Steve Case at AOL and then bounced back saying his mailbox is
full.  Hope it is full of e-mail from LactNetters everywhere!  Even if the
ban has been rescinded we need to let him know that other people talk about
breasts besides pornographers and breast cancer patients.  Geesh.

I'd like some comments/advice about a local situation.  Breastfeeding is
going fine, now, but I would just like to feel more confident about the
situation.  First time mom, baby was induced two weeks early due to mom's
hypertension.  Baby weighed 4 lbs. 14.5 oz, doctors say he is perfect, with
fully developed lungs, just very tiny because he didn't grow the last month
in utero due to mom's hypertension.  Baby was given ABM by bottle in the
nursery because his blood sugar levels were too low and pediatrician (NOT bf
friendly) said AMB was better for getting blood sugar up than breast milk.
Baby had trouble latching on to right side but nursed OK on left side.  Baby
seemed very groggy Saturday night (born Friday at noon) but I'm not sure if
mom had drugs during labor.  I suggested mom might want to start pumping
right breast just to make sure it got lots of stimulation, and so there
would be EBM to give baby in bottle if his blood sugars were still a
problem.  Nurse poo-pooed the idea, said no need to pump.  Mom complained to
me that she got no help with breastfeeding because there were 18 babies born
Friday/Saturday and no one had time to help her.  At one point then sent in
a nurse from orthopedics who hadn't a clue.  I suggested she call LLL,
although the best one in town was at a football game right then (you know
who you are!).  Anyway, mom and baby have now gone home, and dad says baby
is eating well from the breast.  I told dad (my colleague at work) to expect
baby to eat often as it tries to "catch-up" to what would have been its
normal birth weight, plus regular neonatal growth.  Anything else I should
have done/told her, given my lack of expertise in the technical aspects of
latch-on?  Anything else I should be doing now to support her?  I've gotten
suggestions so far to hold baby in semi-upright football hold, lots of
skin-to-skin contact.  Anything else?  Anything particularly unusual about
small for gestational age babies and breastfeeding?  BTW, baby is absolutely
perfect and beautiful, and mom is planning to breastfeed as long as the baby
wants, and they are co-sleeping.


Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Specialist in infant feeding and growth of children
Texas A&M University
e-mail to [log in to unmask]
(409) 845-5256
(409) 778-4513