I listened to a story yesterday about a young woman that gave birth at home (was unaware that she was pregnant) and was transported to a local hosptial because the baby was lethargic, they were shocked, and she had still not delieved the placenta. Emergency personnel arrived and the baby was warmed and given oxygen, they were transported to a local hospital.
Doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with breastfeeding does it? But it does. It has a lot to do with breastfeeding.
The hospital they were originally admitted to was a local hospital that had no obstetrics department and no pediatric department. They had lost their obstetrics department about a year previously due to budget concerns. Supposedly they were supposed to be transported via the “baby buggy”, a special pediatric ambulance from a larger city, to a larger facility. The transport did not happen.
Instead they discovered the baby’s sugar was low, so they send a security guard on a 30+ mile round trip to another hospital to obtain Similac glucose water while arranging for a local transport to that other hospital. The transport arrived to find that the mother had still not birthed the placenta and the baby was in a blanket with a space heater nearby (I wont even go into how horrible that is). The glucose water had still not arrived.
No one had recommended or suggested or had the brilliant idea of breastfeeding this infant. Until the EMS transfer crew arrived. EMS instructed this new, unexpected mother, on how to latch and she successfully breastfed the entire trip to the other hospital. Baby’s glucose was under control upon arrival. After EMS told the hospital nurses that the baby was stable and the glucose was under control and the child was still feeding, they immediately removed the child from mother and began running tests.
Now of course this is just a story I was told, of course I don’t have details, and it’s a matter of perspective. But I find that there is a very high likely-hood that this is what happened and believe that because of the rural area and the “we know what’s best mentality” of so many of the staff something as important as giving this mother the option and choice to breastfeed was overlooked or ignored. Are you asking why this bothers me?
1) This mother was being faced with the shock of just having a child, she had no choices, because she had no information available to her. Because these care providers did not suggest breastfeeding (thankfully someone finally did) they were stripping this mother of her right to choose how to feed her child. If you do not know there is an option, you have none.
2)This mother had not delivered her placenta and fundal massage was unproductive. Breastfeeding and nipple stimulation could have encouraged contractions and improved the chances of delivering the placenta more quickly.
3)A 30 minute wait to recover glucose levels was unnecessary. The mother was readily available and willing to breastfeed her child. She just did not know that she could. Breastmilk will raise glucose levels and keep them level longer, sugar water is nothing special. The glucose water had not arrived by the time she and baby were ready for transport anyway. That was an avoidable risk.
It doesn’t matter who you are, what happened, how it happened, or why it happened. It happened to this mother and she and her child deserved the information and the best research based care possible. I understand that this hospital no longer had an obstetrics department, but breastfeeding should be something that is learned by anyone that has any chance of coming into contact with a mother and child that could have a nursing relationship.
I say that this happened in rural America, because it did. I’m not saying that this doesn’t happen in larger cities, or that we’re backhills idiots, but the facts are, we are behind in technology, staffing, and available continuing education. We are at a disadvantage because of topology, distances, and populations. Rural America has a lot of “sticks” but we always pick up the short end.
This mother gave it a try after being given the information that she could, and unfortunately, she will probably be stripped from that opportunity at the next hospital due to the circumstances of her unassisted, unmonitored birth. Because of this baby’s unknown history and care, breastfeeding should be at the top of the list if the mother wants to give it a shot. When did we stop caring about the families and start paying more attention to convenience of the providers? Mothers need more support. Even one EMS worker for a 30 minute ride can make a difference. This mother breastfed her infant, because she wanted to, even if that will be the last time.
