Kris, I'm glad you've raised this question, because it used to be one of my
pet gripes when I was a hospital nurse!

What particularly aggravates me is the old "there is so much going on and
this mom is so sick, etc. that breastfeeding just isn't a priority right
now." Boy, I wish I had a buck for every time I've heard that line! In most
cases I've seen or can imagine, this is BOGUS! What it means is that the
*medical personnel* don't have it as a priority right now. I totally
understand that, but I also know that that is not the name of the game. It
is the patient's rights/wishes/needs (not to mention the needs of her baby!)
that must be respected, even when a woman may be in too bad condition to
verbalize them or argue with skeptical nurses & doctors.

And from a physiological point of view, women's bodies are designed to
produce breastmilk after childbirth - *that* is the normal, the standard,
the physiologic process. I myself have not seen a situation that would be
made worse by having her breasts pumped, using a medical-grade electric
pump. It reduces engorgement and edema, restores the flow of lymph, improves
comfort, and all those other *normal* processes - I'd go so far as to say
that it should be done initiallyeven if it means gradually weaning off the
pump later (if she isn't going to continue). Any nurse knows how much other
"stuff" is done to a critically ill patient - all kinds of stuff is
suctioned and regulated and "done to" her. Why should applying a breastpump
to her breasts every 3 hours be any more burdensome than all the other stuff
we do without thinking twice about it? At least it doesn't hurt, or involve
punctures or other invasive procedures!

Crabbily,
Cathy Bargar RN IBCLC Ithaca NY

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