I have seen this weight loss scenario many times, where it would not be possible for the baby to lose that much weight in such a short time. I often joke to the staff to stop putting the baby on the treadmill. At a conference this year, Kittie Franz said that "shortening the cord" could account for a 6oz. loss. This was a new idea for me, and my co-workers. Now we just need some documentation, like a before and after weight if the cord is cut. If you have not seen many fresh babies, sometimes the cords will be 6 inches or more. Lu Bush RNC,IBCLC Texas ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Perry" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 8:44 AM Subject: teaching an old dog new tricks > I need to get on my soap box for a minute and I know this crowd will hear me > out. > This week I was working with a second time Mom and the breastfeeding was > going well. I was informed by the nursery staff that the baby had dropped 13 > oz (the baby is only 36 hours old). I told them it must be a scale error. > They insisted it was not and that the baby was not getting enough. They > called the pedi and word was out that the Mom would have to supplement. I > checked the orders and all that was written was for a LC visit and I could do > that! I observed and charted; the baby swallowing, fontanels were normal, > skin turgor good and mucous membranes moist. Also the baby had voided 6 > times and stooled 4 times since birth. Mom was concerned with what the staff > had said so we agreed she would nurse more. > The next day a different staff said it was a scale error but the pedi was in > the nursery and wielded on me for not agreeing with her recommendation to > supplement. I tried first to get a rational of why a baby at 36 hours could > lose so much weight knowing what is the normal intake. Her responce was she > did not care what the literature said. Then I tried to reason with the other > physical findings on this baby and she just kept focussing on the reported 13 > oz weight lose and that she had to act on that, which was for the mother to > supplement. Then I said the mother had increased nursing why would that not > be acceptable and she said that was not the orders she wanted. > When I went to see the mother and informed her that the weight was OK she > told me the staff had come in during the evening asking her why she was not > supplementing. She said I don't want my baby to get formula. > I love my job because I know who I advocate for, BUT trying to reason with so > called intellegent professionals drives my blood pressure up. I want to make > it very clear to this group that I do not feel all maternity nurses are like > this or pediatricians but the few bad apples sure do stink up the whole group > sometimes! > Thanks for letting me vent and if any of you wise ones know of a way to teach > this small group correct information, I would love the help. > Ann Perry, RB IBCLC > Boston, MA > > *********************************************** > > To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail > To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) > To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet > All commands go to [log in to unmask] > > The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned > LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) > mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: > http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html > *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html