I left off last time sharing our story of the birth of our 3rd daughter. You may remember that I’ve written about her before. . .but I’ll get to that. If you haven’t read the first blog, I suggest you do so as it will help you understand this one a little better.
The Strenuous Job of the Nursing Staff
Nursing is a tough job. I’m sure it’s harder in an inner city hospital. However, bringing a baby back to a mother or notifying her that her baby is hungry is not optional depending on how busy it is. Giving the baby a bottle because it is more convenient to the nurses’ schedule is also not optional–but it happens often. I am sad to say that I have often found the medical staff at hospitals to be ignorant of good breastfeeding practices. I am further saddened to say that while I realize that’s not every hospital or every nurse, I’ve talked to numerous moms who have had similar experiences. It is the rare mom who talks about how much breastfeeding support she received at the hospital.
Meghan the Vampire Baby
Meghan was not one of those babies that easily could transfer from bottle to breast. She had nipple confusion largely due to the fact that despite my repeated requests, she was given a bottle in the nursery. She only went to the nursery at ‘mandatory times‘, but those times took up several hours during the day and there was little room for flexibility. On the day we were due to come home, it was discovered that Meghan had jaundice. I stayed another night with her but I had a normal delivery and understandably, the hospital wouldn’t allow me to stay more than that night.
Our Choice. . .Or Not
We debated on what to do, thinking that according to the hospital’s statement of rights and responsibilities, we had the right to leave and refuse the prescribed treatment for jaundice for our daughter. It was explained to us that this would be dangerous, that she needed to be under the lights. . .and she needed formula to help rid her body of the billiruben.
Our issue was not with the prescribed treatment per se. The kid was clearly yellow and needed lights. But in our view, she needed to be breastfed from the breast and not from a bottle–something that the hospital wouldn’t allow us to do because they needed to chart how much she was taking in. They also would not allow us to hold her as it disrupted the heart monitor. . .the one she didn’t need because other than the jaundice she was healthy. However, hospital policy and not common sense prevailed and hospital policy says that if a baby is in the NICU (which is where the phototherapy machines were) the baby must have a heart monitor regardless of why they’re there.
Our plan was to take her from the hospital and bring her to our own pediatrician who did not practice at this hospital. We were certain (and it was later confirmed after speaking with our pediatrician) that we could follow a more breastfeeding friendly approach and still deal with the jaundice. We were not simply disregarding medical advice but we were seeking an approach that was compatible with our beliefs regarding breastfeeding. Furthermore, even if Meghan had to be re-admitted to a different hospital (our pediatrician’s hospital) they had equipment that would allow me to breastfeed her at the breast (instead of giving her expressed milk in a bottle) without disruption of the lights.
However, we were soon to find out that the hospital staff had other plans. They did not take kindly to our disagreeing with them.
I have one more blog to conclude this story. I share it because I know that many parents have gone through similar situations. Please check back soon for the conclusion.