Hi All,
In a message dated 96-04-01 21:20:44 EST, Chris writes:

>I need some expert advice about an infant in our NICU.  Sophie was born
about
>3 weeks ago at maybe 34 weeks SGA.  Was diagnosed with Dandy Walker Cyst,
has
>a small hole in soft palate, a PDA which has sinced closed with medication.
> I got a call from her mother this morning with the news that they have just
>discovered a VSD.  {Snip}

First a question.  What are "SGA", Dandy Walker Cyst, "PDA" and "VSD"?

>Sohie's mom is now pondering her options.   {snip}
>She wanted to know if it was true that she never could breastfeed and if she
was to >continue pumping, if a purchased pump would be adequate ( I think she
is considering >a Nurture III type pump).

Now an answer.  IMPO (P= professional) regarding a purchased pump keeping up
a milk supply:  For the short term, a purchased pump MAY keep up her supply.
 The Nurture III is great for moms who are going to work and need to use it
occaisionally.  However, I would not reccommend a mom use a small pump like
this to keep up a milk supply.  It is likely that moms supply would quickly
start to dwindle.  However, using a hospital grade pump or one like the
Lactina presents a similar problem.  They are great for the short term
(longer than a N 3 most likely) but within a period of time (which seems to
vary with from mom to mom) the milk supply does start to drop, which means,
of course, that ABM must eventually be used.
Pumping long term with any pump is a lot of hard work (been there done that)
and there is no guarentee that the milk supply will keep up with baby's needs
for the long haul.  Pumps are a great tool, but they just don't get the milk
out like a baby does.(also it is hard to fall in love with a pump, and when
you are not in love with the thing that is taking the milk out of your
breasts, it can be hard to keep getting that letdown. )  Optimum scenario,
for mom who can't BF right away, is to pump until baby can BF either part
time or full time.  If baby can never BF (I have some clients in this
situation) then other suggestions to keep up milk supply can be helpful.  In
addition to frequent pumping ( minimum 8 times per day, preferrably 10 )
herbs can work wonders. (I have a mom who has increased her dwindling supply
using herbs, and also breast massage while pumping.  Back up to producing
what baby needs now! :-}  )
I don't know anything about Chris's clients baby's conditions (did you get
that?) or whether or not the baby can ever BF.  I hope that for the mom's
sake, the baby will be able to BF, so that she doesn't have to do the long
term pumping thing.  (Very heroic for the mom to even consider this! IMHO)

Hope some of this helps!
Jay, CLE