April 2010, The Joint Commission (an organization that accredits more than 17,000 top notch hospitals and health care facilities in the
If any breastfeeding baby may need supplementation, their mothers are encouraged to pump or hand-express their own milk for use as a supplement. We have state-of-the-art, hospital-grade breast pumps for use by any mother that may need one while she is here. Our goal is that every breastfeeding infant receives as much of his own mother’s milk as possible before anything else is given. A Lactation Consultant visits every breastfeeding mother everyday that she is here, providing support and encouragement and addressing any questions or concerns that these mothers may have. We are very proud of our more than 85 percent breastfeeding rate and will continue to provide the very best for our breastfeeding families. We believe The Joint Commission will be quite pleased with our breastfeeding practices and other core measures of quality in perinatal care!
Hi Diana-
ReplyDeleteI hope you get this comment, as your blog entry is from April of last year! In August of 2009, my son was born at MoBap. He was 9lb 0.5oz, and I had no signs of gestational diabetes during my pregnancy. It was midnight or later by the time we got into our mother/baby room, so there were no lactation consultants available at the time. After checking my son's blood sugar, the nurse said it was necessary to give him formula to help stabilize it, and she needed my consent. I had a very tough time giving her permission to give my hours old baby formula. It made me feel like I had failed already, and I felt guilty of putting my child in grave danger if I didn't give in. She took him to the nursery, and I cried my eyes out.
The next day when I was able to speak to a lactation consultant, I asked her about the incident. In all my research I had done on breastfeeding prior to giving birth, I never encountered this situation. She said that it was common practice to give breastfed babies formula to even out their blood sugar in those first few hours. However, she was irritated at the night nurses in just how much formula was given to my son. He was spitting up quite a bit after that because of the amount of formula.
As I said earlier, this was in 2009 (before The Joint Commissions's new measures), so will the way this situation was handled differ the next time I give birth in February of 2012? I am more knowledgeable this time around than last time, so I will know to request a breast pump, or at the very least request that I be the one who feeds my child and no one else.
Also, what are the "accepted" reasons for giving a brand new breastfed baby formula?
Thank you, and I'm sorry about the long post, but this has bothered me for the last two years, and I've wanted to discuss it with the lactation consultants at MoBap for a long time.
Sincerely,
Amarette
Hi Amarette,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. I did in-fact receive it, so I’m glad you wrote! You raised such an important question and it is essential for mothers to understand the issues surrounding neonatal blood glucose levels. You are absolutely right that this issue is hardly ever mentioned in breastfeeding education resources.
Without knowing more of the details, it is hard for me to speculate on what may have been the case when your son was born. But I can tell you that when infants are born over 8 lbs 13 oz, they are at greater risk of hypoglycemia. For that reason they are monitored carefully. Typically, health care providers become very concerned when blood glucose levels are found to be under 40 mg/dL in the hours after birth. On your behalf, I have written (and will be posting today) a discussion about neonatal blood sugar and how mothers can assist their infants in maintaining stable levels. Thanks so much for writing and congratulations in advance on your pregnancy! See you in February!
Diana