>why do we have to "warm up" babies in the nursery for maybe an hour before
>we >give them to their mothers?????

In a talk for nurses once, I tossed a can of tuna fish to one of them, and
asked her what she would do if her job was to bring this can up to body
temperature quickly without over- or under-heating it.

She thought for a moment, then slipped it inside her clothing.  "We all
know intuitively to do this with a can of tuna fish," I said. "And we know
that the fastest way to do it is to put the can right against our bare
skin.  Why doesn't it ever occur to us to do it with babies?"  Anne, why
not toss a can to someone at your next meeting, *before* the subject comes
up?

Remember the couple caught in the blizzard who kept the baby alive w/
breastfeeding?  Do you remember how they travelled?  They packed the baby
into a laundry bag with lots of clothing for protection and warmth.  I'll
bet money if they'd had to keep a can of tomatoes from freezing, they'd
have put it inside their shirt...

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY