Feeding (premature babies) | L'il Aussie Prems Blog

When a mother’s milk is not enough

October 14, 2007 By Finisterre 1 Comment

I never realised just how emotional I was going to get about breast milk.

I remember the obstetrician asking me if I planned to breastfeed, minutes after he had told me I might be having a baby at 26 weeks. Yes, I replied sadly, assuming it would be impossible to produce milk under the circumstances, not realising that simply parting company with my placenta would trigger changes to the hormones in my body and kick start milk production.

For three months my life revolved around expressing “liquid gold”, which is a story all in itself.

The lactation consultants in the nursery spent hours helping me to coax my reluctant daughter to suck while encumbered with CPAP and feeding tubes. Tears flowed freely – more freely than my milk some days! Naively I had assumed that breastfeeding would be natural and instinctive, but for me it was a struggle. At the same time, it was one of the few things I could do to help my precious baby grow strong and come home, and so it became more important than anything.

I felt a great sense of achievement when I was finally able to breastfeed my daughter in the comfort of my own home, and as I relaxed I began to enjoy it more and more. However my joy and confidence were undermined by the inescapable fact that although my baby was gaining weight, it was only 30-40g per week – well below desirable levels. I consulted everyone: the breastfeeding centre, a local lactation research group, a string of child health nurses, the internet. I did everything they suggested to increase supply and improve my feeding technique, but it made no difference. She looks healthy but over four months my little one has slipped steadily down the growth charts. Amazingly, every time I queried this with a child health nurse or lactation consultant, they told me not to worry about it because she was doing fine “for a prem”.

Finally, she fell below the lowest line on the chart and I was forced to confront the reality that as much as I loved her, my milk alone was not enough to keep her going. There’s no objective reason why it should bother me so much to give my baby formula. I know it’s an adequate alternative, and for that matter I was formula fed myself. Why is it so hard to shake the sadness within me, as if I have somehow failed one the most basic jobs of motherhood?

I am trying to see the positive. Thank goodness for the blessings of the modern age, which enable our children to survive and thrive when our bodies let us down. And unlike EBM, at least I can tip formula down the sink without any regrets.

Filed Under: Feeding (premature babies)

The Joy of Ex (pressing)

October 12, 2007 By Finisterre 3 Comments

Lactavista The other day I discovered the wonderfully cheeky League of Maternal Justice, committed “to expose the injustices perpetrated against mothers everywhere and to exact vengeance through aggressive finger-wagging and online shaming”.

Superhero Lactavista single handedly defends breast feeders with her super action nursing bra and double power breast pump, but what made me smile was the way she is shown clutching an expressing bottle and breastshield, like a weapon of mass milksuction. My husband always said they looked like science fiction rayguns.

Enough milk has passed under the bridge, so to speak, that I can look back on the three dedicated months I spent expressing and smile about it. It wasn’t always so easy.

From the day I was first introduced to a breastpump, I became a woman (or possibly a cow) on a mission, pumping every three hours around the clock. A sample of my daily routine: pump, sleep, pump, eat, pump, visit hospital, pump, wash expressing gear – well you get the picture. The only exciting thing I did during those three months was to pump, rush to attend pop concert, queue to meet pop star, hug pop star (woo hoo!), rush home, pump again. Other than that it was pretty darn dull.

Our cat took an immediate dislike to the vibrating machine of similar size to him and which seemed to be a rival for my attention. He would often glare at it, purring extra loudly so that I would hear him above the whirring of the pump.

Before I started taking Domperidone (known affectionately in our household as Dom Pérignon) my milk supply was woeful, and it never really took off. Where others squirted, I merely dribbled. I envied the mothers whose freezers overflowed, as I carefully syringed out every last drop and took photographs the first time I filled a container larger than a test tube.

Cry over spilt milk? You bet I did.

I spent lot of time surfing the web while expressing in the middle of the night. I found a lovely story about another woman’s experience, called Help! My Breastpump is on Fire

When I finally parted company with my hired pump, I almost felt a tiny pang of sadness – but only for a millisecond. If I ever have to set my alarm to wake me at 3 a.m. again, I hope it will be for something a lot more exciting.

Filed Under: Feeding (premature babies), NICU Life

Rethink on breastfeeding, allergy link

October 1, 2007 By Julia Toivonen Leave a Comment

TONY EASTELY: Australian researchers say if mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies and there is a family history of allergies, it may actually increase the babies’ chances of developing allergies in later life. The study authors say while breastfeeding has many other benefits, it will not protect children against asthma and allergies in the long-term. But some experts aren’t so convinced and they say the results of the study are inconclusive. Barbara Miller reports.

BARBARA MILLER: The current recommendation is that babies should be exclusively breastfed for six months. One of the most-cited benefits of the breast is best policy is that breastmilk helps protect against allergies.

But researchers from the University of Melbourne, who’ve carried out a longitudinal study on 8,500 people, say that’s not necessarily the case for babies where there’s a family history of allergies. Dr Melanie Matheson from the University’s School of Population Health.

MELANIE MATHESON: We found that breastfeeding in the first three months of life protected against asthma and allergic disease before the age of seven but it no longer protected against those conditions after the age of seven. Our study followed our cohort up until the age of 44 and we found that the risk of asthma and allergic disease continued to increase right up into middle age.

BARBARA MILLER: The researchers say the increased risk is small, but they say their work does call into question the current guidelines on breastfeeding. But some experts say the work is inconclusive. David Thomas is Chair of the Child Youth Health Committee at the Australian Medical Association.

DAVID THOMAS: Their study really needs to examine whether they’ve looked at all other external variables. Allergies later in life can be predisposed to by a number of other environmental impacts which are quite independent of breastfeeding. So, if they’ve found an association, they really need to look at all the other factors ’cause it may or may not be related to breastfeeding.

BARBARA MILLER: That’s a view shared by Dr Andrew Pesce, Clinical Director of Women’s Health at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.

ANDREW PESCE: Children who are exclusively breastfed are often being looked after in the home by their mother. They may have a lower incidence of going to childcare early in life and being exposed to various infections in life. Those infections may challenge the immune system and have effects, both harmful and beneficial possibly, that we don’t fully understand. Hygiene is another thing.

So, you know, there are a whole lot of potential compounding factors which make it really difficult to know what aspect of the breastfeeding and the link to allergies story is breastfeeding alone.

BARBARA MILLER: Do you think that women should change their behaviour based on the results of this study?

ANDREW PESCE: Look no. I think that, you know, this is an incremental addition to the understanding that the researching scientists are giving us and there’s nothing in this information which would make a woman have to think that she has to, you know, change what she’s been doing so far.

TONY EASTELY: Dr Andrew Pesce, Clinical Director of Women’s Health at Westmead Hospital. That report by Barbara Miller.

Transcript from ABC AM radio

Filed Under: Feeding (premature babies), Media Articles, Premmie Baby Health Issues

Breast Milk Banks

August 3, 2007 By Julia Toivonen 1 Comment

Doctors Call For Breast Milk Banks

Neonatal specialists say the lives of many premature babies could be saved if there were more breast milk donation banks in Australia. The first national breastfeeding conference is being held in Melbourne and will today hear about the success of the milk bank at Perth’s King Edward Memorial Hospital. The bank opened a year ago and has provided 55 premature babies with donated breast milk.

The bank’s manager Dr Ben Hartmann says breast milk is better for the immature immune and digestive systems than artificial formula. “When a mum does give birth prematurely, there can often be several reasons that she can’t provide her own breast milk,” he said. “During those days we need to feed babies intravenously so if we can actually provide donor milk and get those babies onto full feeds, mum’s milk then comes in and she can take over. “It means we can get those IV lines out and that’s a potential source of infection for babies.”

Dr Hartmann says the lives of more premature babies could be saved if there were banks in other cities. “Babies in our unit will be down to 23 weeks or 24 weeks gestation, I guess their immune system and their digestive system is quite immature,” he said. “We need to provide nutrition that’s appropriate and in easily digestible forms but we also know that breast milk contains a lot of immunological protective properties.”

Article from ABC News

Filed Under: Feeding (premature babies), Media Articles, NICU Life