MarieClaude

Is there anyone out there who can give me an unbiased answer as to why breastfed only babies are screaming their heads off by day 2? Like Daisy Child said, she knows a hungry baby when she sees one and so do I. When babies are frantically sucking their fists, crying incessantly, and not sleeping, even when they have been on the breast for sufficient time, then what do you call that? If they aren't super hungry, then why, when the mom finally gives formula because she is exhausted and in pain,does the baby suck so vigorously, it could drink the whole bottle down in about a minute?

At last, someone who has observed the same thing I have.Breast fed only babies are starving in those first couple of days before the milk comes in. (See my first post.) When was the last time the "experts" worked night nursery? The only Baby Friendly hospitals that possibly could be succeeding are those where the moms know what is involved and are willing to make the sacrifice. At our hospital, moms (most are indigent and uneducated) haven't got a clue what's going to happen to them if they say they want to breastfeed. The fact is, most of them want to do both (breast and bottle) and don't realize their wishes will not be respected by our one lactation nurse, who literally forces her will over the wishes of the mother by discouraging the mom from supplementing,with all the so called " horror stories" of bottle feeding, pacifiers, etc. As I stated in my first post, the Baby Friendly movement is just another attempt by an organization to take away a woman's right to feed her infant the way she wants. They may say they are not forcing a woman to breastfeed only, but when you forbid formula except for medical reasons, I call that taking away her choice and thereby forcing her to comply, at least while she's in the hospital. Seems our once great country that respected the rights of the individual is slowly, but surely moving to becoming a nanny state. Notice that most of the countries that have Baby Friendly hospitals are countries with socialized medicine. What does that tell you?

Notice I said, " if a breastfeeding mom" chooses to supplement.... what I am saying, by just one example, is that we have mom's who breastfeed first and then choose to supplement right after bfg. until their milk comes in. Many of these mom's have done this with each child, no problems when switching to breast only. If our county, ( not private )hospital becomes "baby friendly" then these moms will not be allowed to give formula unless medically indicated. To deny the mother her right to feed her baby however she wants, whatever her reason, is very disturbing to me.

Point number 6 of the ten steps to a baby friendly hospital states: Give newborns no food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated. If taking away a breastfeeding mother's right to supplement while in the hospital for reasons other than medical ones, isn't forcing a mother to breastfeed only, then what do you call it?

Thank you Alison, for your reply. As I stated in my post, I do not dispute the benefits of breastfeeding and do agree that it is the healthier way to nourish the newborn. But even with all the evidence to the benefits of breastfeeding, my main issue is this: Just because there is evidence out there as to why breastfeeding is best for babies, this does not justify taking away the mother's right to choose one method over the other, or both. The personal right to choose, no matter what the issue ( lawfully, of course) is a fundamental principal most of us treasure.

Our county hospital is seeking to go "Baby Friendly." After reading the other posts, I can see we have some real issues to deal with. First, we do not have mother/baby unit, we have the well baby nursery. Second, we have a large number of indigent and illegal immigrant moms at our hospital. Third, L&D, OB and newborn are NOT all on the same page. Fourth, the mom's that say they want to breastfeed have no prior knowledge of what this entails until they have already had their baby, and after possibly hours of labor, or pain of C-section, they are told, " you need to bfd your baby every 2 hrs. aound the clock for milk synthesis, etc. Because of this and many other issues, All the newborn nurses are at odds with our lactation nurses. First, we have mom's that want to both breast and bottle feed. I ,for one, believe in the rights of the mother to feed her infant however she chooses even though I agree that breast is better (I breastfed my children.)At our hospital, the lactation nurses feel it is their business, through fear and guilt, to control/limit that mothers choice to supplement after bfg. My dilema is being caught in the middle. On the one hand, we literally have to give an account to our lactation nurses as to why we didn't do more to dissuade a mom from supplementing thereby incuring the downright anger of the lactation nurses, versus doing what the mom has said she wants to do. The bottom line is, these lactation nurses may be able to get these moms to "fall in line" as it were, while in the hospital, but as soon as they go home, they will do exactly what they want to do. In the meantime, the newborn nurses go through heck with lactation. We do not force rooming in. I have had nights where I might have 4 mom's that are bfg. only, but want their babies brought to them when time to feed. That means I am up and down hallways my whole shift, at least 32 times. I know this is long, but one last thought. What gives any person/organization the right to tell anyone how to live their life by imposing their own opinions, based on fact or not, because they believe one choice is far better than another? Where does this stop? Do we want someone telling us we can't buy junk food because healthy food is better? Or tell us what kind of gas to put in our cars, etc. - I think you get the idea. I believe the job of the lactation nurse is to teach and inform in such a way as to leave the decisions to mom as to what she will do with that information without using fear/guilt in such a way as to influence that decision.