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Subject:
From:
Cathy Bargar <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 29 Apr 1999 15:58:12 -0400
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Sorry, I missed the beginning of this exchange, so I'm not going to talk
about this particular situation. But I always think now, when I see a baby
doing something unusual and potentially not supportive of its own
survival/well-being, of a baby I saw years ago when I worked at the
hospital. Perfectly "normal" labor & delivery, unmedicated, gorgeous
perfect-looking baby, nothing wrong as far as we could tell; baby wasn't
particularly sleepy, but just wouldn't/couldn't latch on & nurse. No
problems with mom's breast shape/size/contours - looked like a perfect
set-up. Day 1, I wasn't too worried - babies are funny sometimes, he just
got born, no signs to cause alarm, etc. Parents were keeping the baby in
room with them, good bonding, all good stuff. Day 2, I worked with them much
more extensively to get him to latch and suck (he'd *either* latch or suck,
but not both) - tried all my tricks, but nothing doing. Baby still looked
great & showed all the "right" behaviour (rooting, awake & alert @ breast).
That was a Friday, and I was off that week-end. Came back Monday, wanting to
know how it had gone; the baby was dead!

Turns out he had had a heart defect, not detected by the normal physical
exam - no audible murmer, no circumoral cyanosis, none of the things you
expect to see in a baby with a cardiac problem. But his failure to latch &
suck must have been his way of conserving his vital energy. What a tragic
thing - and yes, I did feel "responsible" in some way. Now when I see babies
that have "life-threatening behaviours" for no apparent reason, I remember
that baby and his poor parents; I remember every time I think of them that,
while babies' "reasons" for behaving the way they do aren't always evident
to us, there IS a reason, and that babies certainly were not designed to
fail to do the things necessary for their own survival. So when they *won't*
nurse, I worry about why that should be. And when they don't wake up looking
for food, contact, comfort, whatever, I worry - not over 1 night, for
heaven's sake, but whenever I see a pattern of behaviour that isn't in their
own best interest.

Cathy Bargar, RN, IBCLC (getting a little weepy remembering this sad
story...)

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