Thank God for Saturday Night Live. Being a lifelong fan of the show, I rely on my weekly fix to make me laugh, especially at the end of an intense week. As every other SNL fan has their favorite characters, I hold mine close to my heart, and Kenan Thompson's "D'Andre Cole" constantly makes his way into my repertoire.
Well, this was one of those weeks, albeit a good kind of intense...My sister had a beautiful baby boy, delivered by C-Section, so we had a significant amount of time in hospital to hang out in the days following his birth. I was able to observe the good, the bad, and the ugly, and quite frankly (with the exception of a few impressive nurses and awesome obstetricians), I was nauseated by the advice she was getting.
First, understand this...Baby Charlie was nursing beautifully from birth, peeing and pooping like a champ. Textbook perfect feeder. The pediatrician came in to see him on Day 2 and told my sister that she should continue to breastfeed, but prophylactically, she should give him a 1/2 ounce of formula after every feed to head off jaundice. I think I threw up in my mouth.
Sing it for me, D'Andre..."What up with that?"
Day 3, different pediatrician. "Are you breastfeeding?" "Yes, I am." "Okay, great, but you know, you don't have milk yet, so until it comes in, you should feed formula." Forget throwing up in my mouth, I almost did it all over her Chanel outfit.
Do I need to ask D'Andre to belt out the refrain?
What in the world is happening here? This advice is coming from one of New York City's supposedly best pediatric practices??? How hard is it for them to update their information? Go to a conference? Read some research, perhaps? So disappointing, so disturbing, and, most of all, sabotaging an experience that is starting out on a good note! My sister is lucky because she has me built-in, but what about all of the other moms they see? Those who don't have a lactation consultant sister or friend?
Until I have an answer, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that Kenan renews his contract every year.
Oh my that is ridiculous.
Chaya,
Doula, Jerusalem
Yep, that describes what I see often when I visit hospitals and my own experience.
Because of this, I feel its especially important that moms get as much information prenatally. But even then it’s sometimes tough to compete with what’s coming out of the mouth behind the white lab coat. I might just have to buy one.
The other problem is that doctors get about 10 minutes of breastfeeding education in med school. Pretty awful.
Ridiculous! I was lucky to be in a hospital where lactation consultants are available 24/7, I think I had them in my room more than anyone else on the floor! The doctors all really respected them and thankfully I didn’t get any conflicting advice, because I had no idea what I was doing. Your sister is lucky she has you!
That was awful. I as a peer counselor try to warn my mothers ahead of time.