BF and maternal temp

BRANDY LPN · Jan 4, 2004

My thinking is that baby needs those antibodies even more if mom is sick, so I would encourage breastfeeding. Also not allowing her to could damage the breastfeeding experience.

Again this is just MHO and may be wrong.

L&D_RN_OH · Jan 7, 2004

Originally posted by BRANDY LPN
My thinking is that baby needs those antibodies even more if mom is sick, so I would encourage breastfeeding.

That was my theory too. Better to have the antibodies, than not.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jan 7, 2004

That would be a big yes :)

L&D_RN_OH · Jan 7, 2004

Originally posted by NicuGal
That would be a big yes :)

I'm assuming you work in NICU, right? See, now I was getting flak from the NSY for "letting" my pt bf when she had a temp of 103.5. Granted, we didn't know where the temp was coming from. We were assuming she had a high leak for a couple days,but who knows for sure. The NSY RN asked why baby was nursing, I said "Why not?" It's already been exposed to whatever Mom has anyway, why not let it get the colostrum. But apparently, the pedis prefer Moms be Doesn't sound very Mom or baby friendly to me.

live4today, RN · Jan 7, 2004

Originally posted by BRANDY LPN
My thinking is that baby needs those antibodies even more if mom is sick, so I would encourage breastfeeding. Also not allowing her to could damage the breastfeeding experience.

Again this is just MHO and may be wrong.

This incident happened to me with child number two. My water broke at home...doc said it wouldn't be long before baby delivered...26 hours later no baby...doc induced my labor with pitocin...baby was born four hours later...mom spiked temp...baby kept from mom until temp down to normal...then baby didn't want to breastfeed because it was use to the bottle's nipple...that same child and I never bonded well...she latched on to daddy like he was "mom" because for four days he fed her the bottle. All I could do was look at her through a window until on day four I got out of my bed and insisted they give me my baby. Even then, they would only bring her next to the bed as the nurse held her to let me see that she had all her body parts, etc. That was 30 years ago, and today that same child is STILL closer to her father than she ever was to me. :sniff:

Sooooooo....."damage the breastfeeding experience" they did, too.

My other two children were breastfed from birth, and they are attached to me like white on rice today. :)

L&D_RN_OH · Jan 7, 2004

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer
All I could do was look at her through a window until on day four I got out of my bed and insisted they give me my baby

See, this is exactly what I am hoping to avoid. That is too bad that things were that way then. I hope that we are a little more progressive these days.

live4today, RN · Jan 7, 2004

Originally posted by L&D_RN_OH
See, this is exactly what I am hoping to avoid. That is too bad that things were that way then. I hope that we are a little more progressive these days.

I sure hope so! It was awful back then...of course I delivered in a military hospital then, so that may explain it. The wives were often treated like "outcaste" and were only known by their husbands "social security number". :rolleyes:

I was told the fever came from not delivering before 24 hours, and both baby and mom had to be watched, but four days of watching is a bit much in my opinion. Geesh!