Continued from part 2

So now you know the guidelines that are in place for the pediatricians to
follow at a birth where an infant may require resuscitation.

My opinion is that anything that is done to a person can be done gently or
not [I bring up the example of pelvic exams for those of us who have not
been intubated lately].  While I don't have a study to back this up, I do
believe that gentle suctioning does not produce as much oral defensiveness
as "go all out and be rough" suctioning.

The other thing that I think is that many HCPs don't connect the "vigorous"
suctioning and the later difficulty with breastfeeding.  Unlike our own Dr.
Rob did in the "I ruined his suck" thread a couple of months ago.  We all
forgave him because we know he cares about breastfeeding and in suctioning
the child he was acting in the child's best interests at the time.

This is another opportunity for education - "cause and effect" education -
as it could be called,  in the things that we can have HCP's learn about
that can effect breastfeeding.

There - 3 parts - one soapbox.

Gail
Gail Hertz, MD, IBCLC
Pediatric Resident
author of the little green breastfeeding book - disclaimer: owner of Pocket
Publications