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When our son was born, he weighed 6 pounds 5 oz., and we had issues with him latching from the start. Part of the problem was I had flat nipples, so the nurse gave us a shield and showed me how to use it, and he seemed to do much better. He seemed to be a very content and alert baby. He lost almost 10 percent of his birth weight during our hospital stay, and we were discharged to see our pediatrician for a follow-up.
Weighing 9.5 pounds at 4 months
My fourth baby ended up hospitalized for failure to thrive and required a nasogastric tube to feed her. Despite constant breastfeeding, excellent milk supply and milk transfer, she never gained enough weight and then began losing weight. She was born weighing 8 pounds and when admitted to the hospital she weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces.
I worked in labor and delivery and postpartum units as a tech and then a registered nurse for 6 years at a BFHI designated hospital and I was so indoctrinated by “Breast is Best” that I truly believed “a hungry baby wouldn’t starve” and every mother can exclusively breastfeed, including me.
During the hospital stay my baby was subjected to a profusion of invasive tests, and it was determined my breast milk lacked sufficient fat, calories and nutrients to nourish her. I was in absolute shock and disbelief!
Elena’s doctors ordered her to begin feedings with a 24 calorie formula for the first 
months and then she was fed a 22 calorie formula to help her gain enough catch-up weight. We were able to remove her feeding tube after a month when she began to gain weight and thrive and eventually she was transitioned to a regular 20 calorie formula.
With my first 3 babies, I fed them a combination of breast milk and formula. My twins always received more formula than breast milk because I couldn’t keep up with their demands. My 3rd baby was called “slow to gain” at four months so I increased the amount of formula he got and by 6 months he was solely on formula. In hindsight, my milk was probably insufficient then too but my other babies always took a bottle so it was easy to supplement them with a bottle.
Thankfully my sweet baby is now almost 2 years old and perfectly healthy but I will never ever spread the “Breast is Best” myth again!
NG tube removed, thriving
I am now a staunch #FedIsBest advocate and will be joining The Fed Is Best Foundation’s Nurse Advocacy Team so that we can educate other health care providers and provide them with current, clinically safe and evidence- based infant feeding practices.
~Karen Creecy, RN
For more information about breast milk composition deficiencies, please read my blog interview with: Dr. Shannon Kelleher and Dr. Shannon Kelleher 2
You can become a Fed is Best Advocate and wear our charm to spread our message by making a donation at:
https://www.generosity.com/…/the-fed-is-best-fou…/x/15553740
Written by Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, IBCLC, The Momivist & Co-Founder of The Fed Is Best Foundation
Power pumping refers to when a breastfeeding mother uses a breast pump to remove as much
breast milk as she can in rapid (concentrated) intervals, in an attempt to stimulate her milk supply.
The theory behind power pumping is that it hyper-stimulates the prolactin hormone cascade that stimulates breast milk production, by completely emptying the breasts. Mothers report that this process takes 4-7 days to begin seeing any results and some report not seeing a difference at all. The science on this theory is as split as the results are. Continue reading
