I had to comment on the scales issue.  I work as a pediatric nutritionist
giving in-home service.  When my office first moved to in-home service we had
the problem of coming up with accurate scales that could "take a beating"
being lugged around town.  I was adamant that they must be accurate +/- 10
grams because of our work with premies and FTT.  I found some wonderful scales
by going outside the healthcare equipment companies.  The scales I use are
"industrial/commercial scales" that must maintain accuracy as they are used to
determine shipping costs etc.  I  keep certified calibration weights at my
disposal to verify accuracy of the scales.  Calibration weights are really
inexpensive by the way and could be kept in the areas where the hospital
scales are kept.  It makes more sense to me to directly determine the accuracy
of a scale rather than assume it may be inaccurate but "consistent" in it's
inaccuracy.  The scales I use  have maintained calibration of +/-10 grams as
verified by the calibration weights.  I have used them for over 18 months
dragging them in and out of my car and homes.  It weighs about 6 kgs.  It has
a stainless steel platform that is large enough to allow an infant carrier to
be placed on top or in some cases the child's favorite chair (far more
comfortable for the baby/child).  There is a tare mechanism for these items as
well as tare the dry diaper so that they don't need to be nude for the weigh-
in -  a BIG plus for avoiding untiming voiding.  Read out is digital.  The
scale cost about $700.  It would seem that for this durability a hospital
would find the cost reasonable.  I know the initial cost was high for in-home
service but some of our counterpart offices that bought cheaper scales are on
their 3rh replacement now.

JoAn Muncie, MSRDLD