Category: *Top Blogs

NICU Nurse Discloses Newborn Admission Rates From Breastfeeding Complications in BFHI Unit

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Ella D.

I am a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse  and the hospital where I work delivers more than 2,000 babies annually, over half from high-risk pregnancies.  In our part of the country, “natural parenting” is widely embraced, and it is difficult to find a hospital that isn’t “Baby-Friendly.”  Our hospital administration views the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) designation as a marketing tool, hoping new parents will choose our hospital to deliver their babies. Any criticism of the BFHI risks a backlash.

COMPLICATIONS on the mother-baby unit

Since our hospital became BFHI certified, NICU admissions for acute starvation while exclusively breastfeeding have escalated to at least 4 admissions weekly. (It should be zero.) Fortunately, once the baby reaches the doors of the NICU, we are free from the BFHI protocol. We are not, however, free from all the indoctrination the parents have already received, and they’ve received an impressive and dangerous amount. We require verbal consent and a physician’s order for donor milk use, but only low birth weight babies qualify for that. We also require a physician’s or Neonatal Nurse Practitioner’s (NNP) order for formula milk use. It is not uncommon for parents to request IV fluids over formula supplementation. 

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I Attempted Suicide From The Pressure Of Breast Is Best

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When I first wrote this blog post, I was blown away by how many mothers related to my breastfeeding story. So many women reached out to let me know I wasn’t alone, and shared nearly identical stories. Which made me both relieved, and also very sad that this mental health side of breastfeeding isn’t talked about enough. I don’t understand why so many people act like it doesn’t happen and don’t talk about it. We can SAVE lives if we DO talk about it!

I was just as equally shocked to see how many mothers thought that I should have kept breastfeeding anyway, even if it meant resenting my son, and being nothing more than a food source and a shell of a person. My story has been picked apart by many lactivists, from accusing me of being selfish, to thinking I just didn’t have enough support or encouragement. I had more than enough support for breastfeeding, but very little support for switching to formula when I knew it was best for my own mental health, and for my son. I can’t fathom telling a mom she’d better breastfeed or might as well be dead. I’m not against breastfeeding. I successfully breastfed my second baby for almost a year! But I don’t believe in breastfeeding at all costs, especially at the expense of the mother’s health, and that includes her mental health. A mother’s mental and emotional health are just as important as her baby’s health. Not every mom gets that oxytocin-induced happy breastfeeding experience. Sometimes it’s the opposite, and those moms need support and recognition too.

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Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Speaks Out About The Dangerous Practices Of The BFHI

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by Christine K.

When the Fed Is Best Foundation launched two years ago, a few nurses sent us messages about their experiences working in a Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) hospital. They shared common concerns about watching exclusively breastfed babies crying out in hunger from not enough colostrum while being refused supplementation just so that high exclusive breastfeeding rates were met. Two years later, we now receive messages from nurses, physicians, lactation consultants, and other health professionals, regularly. They express their concerns while asking for patient educational resources. They tell us their stories and they need support and direction on what to do about unethical and dangerous practices they are forced to take part in. We collected their stories and are beginning a blog series on health professionals who are now speaking out about the Baby-Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI) and the WHO Ten Steps of Breastfeeding.

Christine K. is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner currently working in a BFHI Hospital with 25 years of experience. She has worked in both BFHI and non-BFHI hospitals and talks about her concerns about taking care of newborns in the Baby-Friendly setting.

Regarding Unsafe Skin-To-Skin Practices

In BFHI facilities, skin-to-skin is mandated. The protocol calls for skin-to-skin at birth, for the first hour, then ongoing until discharge. New mothers are constantly told that it is important for bonding, for breastfeeding, for milk production and for temperature regulation of the newborn. Baby baths are delayed for skin-to-skin time and nurses are required to document in detail the skin-to-skin start and end times. There is no education on safety regarding skin-to-skin time, only that it is to be done. I have been responsible for the resuscitation of babies who coded while doing skin-to-skin. One died, and the other baby is severely disabled. Mothers are not informed of the risks of constant and unsupervised skin-to-skin time. Mothers have complained to me that they felt forced to do skin-to-skin to warm up their cold or hypoglycemic infant because they are told skin-to-skin time will help their infant resolve these issues when in fact it doesn’t. There is also no assessment of the mother’s comfort level with constant skin-to-skin. It’s very discouraging to hear staff say things like, “That mother refused to do skin-to-skin,” like it was a crime or an act of child abuse. The judgment is harsh on mothers who fail to follow the protocol. I have noticed that partners are pushed to the side, especially in the first hour of life, not being able to hold their newborn, due to this strict policy. Their involvement has been discounted in the name of the exclusive breastfeeding protocol. Continue reading →

Nurses Are Speaking Out About The Dangers Of The Baby-Friendly Health Initiative

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When the Fed Is Best Foundation launched two years ago, a few nurses sent us messages about their experiences working in a BFHI hospital. Some of the nurses felt comfortable speaking out because they left their jobs or retired early, as they did not want to be part of the restrictive breastfeeding policies that were implemented. They shared common concerns of watching exclusively breastfed babies being refused supplementation, while babies were crying out in hunger from not enough colostrum which resulted in NICU admissions.

Two years later, we now receive messages from nurses, physicians, LC’s and other health professionals, regularly.  They express their concerns while asking for help and for patient resources. They tell us their stories and they need support and direction of what to do about unethical and dangerous practices they are forced to practice. We collected their stories and are beginning a blog series of health professionals who are now speaking out about the Baby-Friendly Health Initiative and the WHO Ten Steps of Breastfeeding. Continue reading →

Feed Your Baby—When Supplementing Saves Breastfeeding and Lives

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Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, MS, IBCLC

Mothers are taught that it’s rare not to produce enough milk to exclusively breastfeed in nearly every breastfeeding book, mommy group, and hospital breastfeeding class. The truth is we have limited studies that provide an accurate percentage of mothers who can produce enough milk for their babies for the recommended six months. Although actual rates of adequate milk production are unknown, some estimates range from 12-15 percent or more.   

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