"Please, no flames. I realize that I am inexperienced in working w/preemies and their needs, but this mother approached me for assistance. She was ER C/S at a local hospital with no LC (in an area where I practice), and the baby was air-lifted to a NICU more than 100 miles away. Considering that the NICU does not have an LC and that she has not waivered in her desire to BF this baby, (her first), I want to do all I can to empower her" Dear Niki, Certainly no flames toward you but I have never heard of more inappropriate breastfeeding management in a NICU. I worked in a high risk OB center where many of our moms were on Mg and we never withheld colostrum or breastmilk from the sick or premie infants, never mind continuing that practice long term. The only thing I can imagine her doing is asking the MD and the dietician for their references on how breastmilk would not be the optimal nutrition for this baby. She could also ask them what the community and national standards are for feeding premature babies. They'll be hard pressed to come up with information recommending withholding mother's own milk in favor of fomula for a premie. Is she on some other medication (of which there are very few) that is contraindicated in breastfeeding? Otherwise I can't fathom this situation. Even in NICU's which are relatively breastfeeding unfriendly I have never heard of recommending formula over mother's own milk to a healthy, growing premie. Short of mom being on an incompatible med or baby having some kind of metabolic disorder this makes no sense and I would ask the powers that be for their references. You could also look at the toolkit for feeding premies that Nancy Wight was involved in writing. Oh, and 1 ml equals 1 gram and there are approximately 30 ml per oz. Intake for a premie is calculated on ml/kg/day and kcal/kg/day. The neonatologist will be making these calculations. Transition to breast could happen right now. When baby is showing feeding cues, mom puts him to breast. A test wt. is very helpful in assessing intake. If he doesn't take at least 2/3 or more of his feeding the rest can then be gavaged.Can't imagine this NICU has a Baby Weigh Scale, however. We usually start premies with one feeding per day, but this baby now being 34 weeksadjusted age could well be able to nurse more than once per day. The idea is to establish breastfeeding before he gets a bottle. I'm so sorry this mom is having this unecessary hassle and this baby is being denied her breastmilk. Kathy Boggs, RN, IBCLC *********************************************** 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(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html