Breastfeeding:A safety hazard???

[hipmummy]

So Ds and I just came back from his new family care practice. I was able to nurse him through his shot and that was fine aside from the nurse being freaked out, she did say it made the job much easier. Then they sent me over to Quest Diagnostics a (contract lab) for the Ma state lead test and blood panel. I told her\ I was going to nurse ds and she said "No way I can't let you it is a SAFETY hazard" Granted I know it is a blood draw from the arm, but with creative postioning ds would have been much calmer. I argued for a bit and realized this woman has 0% clue and was the epitome of everything MDC is against. Because ds was 6 months behind and has never had a lead test (state mandate) I shut up and did it and nursed him after. It broke my heart he was screaming Boo Boo (his word for nursing) and I could not help him. Does anyone have any info on ways to draw blood and nurse? There is a ton on vaccinating but none on blood draws. Thank You

[Ruthla]

I would have asked the technician for documentation that nursing during a blood draw wasn't permitted according to some safety laws, and insisted on nursing him during the blood draw if she failed to produce such proof.

If she refused to do so, I would have asked for a different phlebotomist to do the blood draw- or was she the only one there?

[hipmummy]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I would have asked the technician for documentation that nursing during a blood draw wasn't permitted according to some safety laws, and insisted on nursing him during the blood draw if she failed to produce such proof.

If she refused to do so, I would have asked for a different phlebotomist to do the blood draw- or was she the only one there?

She was the only one there. And boy was she a trainwreck. Next time I will get a friend who is a phelb to do it. It has to be someone who is okay drawing from a weird angle.

[medicmama]

I have found if they are a competant phleb, they will do it. if not they may not let you.

As a note Quest has the worst/rudest phlebs around. I have a latex allergy,and they refused to wear non latex gloves because I was not the patient. I was holding dd she was 6 mos old.

[Meiri]

Whom is being endangered? the nurse? I think not.

Seems to me that it should be up to the person who stands to be bitten or clamped down on to make that decision.

Only thing I can think of being a problem is if child should unlatch and milk might drip or spray into the area such that the sample might be contaminated. However, knowing how that equipment works, I find even that to be a stretch.

[Tine]

I had a similar experience when I informed our family doc's nurse that I was going to BF DD while she got vaxed.

The nurse had a cow, saying that it was a choking hazard. (Wha????) I probed a bit and discovered that she was getting that idea from a guideline saying that children shouldn't be allowed to have anything in their mouths during a vax, because the kid might accidentally swallow the object and choke.

When I pointed out that that scenario obviously wasn't going to happen while BFing, and that the worst possible outcome was a bit of milk going down the wrong pipe (and that the best -- and most likely -- outcome was a vax with no crying), the nurse shut up.

[MommytoTwo]

My guess is that they are afraid a nursing baby will clamp down and bite mom while having blood drawn, and mom will blame them for her injury. Stupid but thats my guess.

[ThreeBeans]

If paramedics can dangle upside down in a crunched up car in the middle of the night while it's pouring and there's blood and glass everywhere and manage to start an IV on a critically injured patient, a tech can draw from a nursing baby. She was full of doggy-doo.

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by MommytoTwo

My guess is that they are afraid a nursing baby will clamp down and bite mom while having blood drawn, and mom will blame them for her injury. Stupid but thats my guess.

Kind of like people suing because their coffee was hot and there was nothing to tell them so? Or the guy suing Winnabago because setting the cruise control doesn't allow to leave the driver seat?

I don't think I have ever met a BFing mom who would sue someone because her child bit her.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by PatienceAndLove

Kind of like people suing because their coffee was hot and there was nothing to tell them so? Or the guy suing Winnabago because setting the cruise control doesn't allow to leave the driver seat?

I don't think I have ever met a BFing mom who would sue someone because her child bit her.

The coffee thing is a pet peeve of mine. The person got second degree burns when the coffee spilled, if the coffee had been drunk those burns would've been in their throat. If people aren't going to drink the coffee until they get to work or where ever, they can microwave it to warm it up, no need to sell scalding coffee at a drive-thru.

On topic, I hope to goodness I'm never in a position where I can't wait for a blood draw for my child. I'd much prefer to be able to request someone with more experience. "I'm sorry, I know you need practice, but my child is very young and the blood draw needs to be as quick as possible. If you can't handle drawing blood while I'm nursing, you simply don't have enough experience for me to be comfortable with you attempting the draw."

[captivatedlife]

DD nursed while the blood was drawn from her arm - at 1 year when she was very mobile. It sucks to reschedule, but that is probably the best bet. It hurts and there was no reason not to allow your child the comfort. (IMO)

[lacysmommy]

I hate Quest diagnostics. They told me something similar when my DD2 needed a blood draw when she was 12 months old. And, they have sent us to collections twice, for things that were beyond our control. I wish I had more of a choice of what lab to use when I need blood work done.

[hipmummy]

After reading a couple posts, I am wondering if Quest might need some serious Lactation sensitivity training. Boy do they have some issues. I have heard of this happening at other labs as well. Some hospitals have very strict nothing in the mouth rules. I will never go to a lab again. I rather pay someone to come to me and do it on my terms!

[Firemom]

I haven't nursed in years and I nursed my babies and toddlers thru every shot and blood test. Never was an issue at my doctors offices. I think this was a personal thing in your case

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

The coffee thing is a pet peeve of mine. The person got second degree burns when the coffee spilled, if the coffee had been drunk those burns would've been in their throat. If people aren't going to drink the coffee until they get to work or where ever, they can microwave it to warm it up, no need to sell scalding coffee at a drive-thru.

Not to mention the other 700+ folks that McDonald's settled with prior to the Liebeck case.


But, I agree with others - a good phlebotomist could find a vein aside from the inside of the elbow. Wouldn't nursing in the standard cradle hold put a child at exactly the right angle to access the back of his knee?

[transylvania_mom]

Originally Posted by Tine

I had a similar experience when I informed our family doc's nurse that I was going to BF DD while she got vaxed.

The nurse had a cow, saying that it was a choking hazard. (Wha????) I probed a bit and discovered that she was getting that idea from a guideline saying that children shouldn't be allowed to have anything in their mouths during a vax, because the kid might accidentally swallow the object and choke.

:

[LaurenAnanas]

I work in public health, and aside from the phleb. being insensitive, there are very good reasons why no one is allowed to eat in clinical areas that have nothing to do with the food as a source of contamination.

Seriously, anywhere that blood is being drawn, even with proper aeseptic techinique and materials, there is always a slightly higher risk of surface pathogens resulting from all sorts of stuff. I mean, for the same reasons you would not nurse in a restroom, you would not nurse in a clinical setting like that.

Hepatitis B and C are amazingly persistent and can survive on hard surfaces where other viruses won't... It is concievable that a previous patient might have had an accident (or the blood was improperly drawn or whatever) and there was some spurting or ad dribble or something. The busy tech follows the clean up protocols, but misses the patient's own hand that's covering the wound. Patient uses the doorknob on the way out. You use the door knob on the way in. If you were to touch your nipple or baby's mouth before you had a chance to wash up, there's a definite possibility of infection. Same thing with staph or strep or anything else that might come through a reference lab like that.

If you're lucky enough to have a ped who will do draws in his or her office, that might be safer, as there's less traffic and probably fewer pathogens.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by LaurenAnanas

I work in public health, and aside from the phleb. being insensitive, there are very good reasons why no one is allowed to eat in clinical areas that have nothing to do with the food as a source of contamination.

Seriously, anywhere that blood is being drawn, even with proper aeseptic techinique and materials, there is always a slightly higher risk of surface pathogens resulting from all sorts of stuff. I mean, for the same reasons you would not nurse in a restroom, you would not nurse in a clinical setting like that.

Hepatitis B and C are amazingly persistent and can survive on hard surfaces where other viruses won't... It is concievable that a previous patient might have had an accident (or the blood was improperly drawn or whatever) and there was some spurting or ad dribble or something. The busy tech follows the clean up protocols, but misses the patient's own hand that's covering the wound. Patient uses the doorknob on the way out. You use the door knob on the way in. If you were to touch your nipple or baby's mouth before you had a chance to wash up, there's a definite possibility of infection. Same thing with staph or strep or anything else that might come through a reference lab like that.

If you're lucky enough to have a ped who will do draws in his or her office, that might be safer, as there's less traffic and probably fewer pathogens.

So what you're saying is that nursing is a bad idea because a phlebobotomist office might have horrible virulent infections on any number of surfaces? And yet, somehow, those same infections aren't a problem for an adult patient who rubs their eyes, a toddler patient who sticks their hand in their mouth after touching the door, a baby patient who sucks on a parent's finger, or a baby patient who nurses immediately after the blood is drawn.

If infection is truly the concern then the best response would be to have patients wash their hands on entering the room. Also, patients should be warned not to touch their mouths, eyes, and noses or the mouths, eyes, noses, and hands of their children.

Since that does not happen, I will continue to believe that the injunctions against nursing are due entirely to ignorance.

[LaurenAnanas]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

So what you're saying is that nursing is a bad idea because a phlebobotomist office might have horrible virulent infections on any number of surfaces? And yet, somehow, those same infections aren't a problem for an adult patient who rubs their eyes, a toddler patient who sticks their hand in their mouth after touching the door, a baby patient who sucks on a parent's finger, or a baby patient who nurses immediately after the blood is drawn.

If infection is truly the concern then the best response would be to have patients wash their hands on entering the room. Also, patients should be warned not to touch their mouths, eyes, and noses or the mouths, eyes, noses, and hands of their children.

Since that does not happen, I will continue to believe that the injunctions against nursing are due entirely to ignorance.

They should be warned of that, yes, but we all know how responsible the modern medicine profit machine is. Granted, the risk is low, but it's not zero, and it's certainly higher than in other public settings. Many doctors have stopped drawing blood in-house because of the costs for lab couriers and other fees imposed by giant corporate labs like Quest. We loose some safety because of this, due to concentrated traffic of sick or infected individuals at these types of lab locations.

General hygienic precautions are that we wash our hands before preparing food, eating, sticking our hands in our mouths, picking noses, etc... We should be especially careful about that in public settings, and even more careful in medical settings. One of the many reasons so many of us avoid hospital births is the higher risk of infections.

While this phleb's attitude displays a huge amount of ignorance (and shows just how little medical training people in those positions receive), I can't agree that she was entirely wrong to disallow nursing.

You may decide that the risk of infection to your child is lower than the risk of a poorly done draw due to the child's discomfort/irritability/emotional response, which could be alleiviated by nursing. In that case, you could see if your pediatrician or nurse could do the draw, or see if you can find a phleb who is more understanding. Depending on the lab and the test, you may even be able to have someone (a friend who's a nurse, perhaps) do the draw in your own home, which would be the safest option of all.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by LaurenAnanas

I work in public health, and aside from the phleb. being insensitive, there are very good reasons why no one is allowed to eat in clinical areas that have nothing to do with the food as a source of contamination.

Seriously, anywhere that blood is being drawn, even with proper aeseptic techinique and materials, there is always a slightly higher risk of surface pathogens resulting from all sorts of stuff. I mean, for the same reasons you would not nurse in a restroom, you would not nurse in a clinical setting like that.

Hepatitis B and C are amazingly persistent and can survive on hard surfaces where other viruses won't... It is concievable that a previous patient might have had an accident (or the blood was improperly drawn or whatever) and there was some spurting or ad dribble or something. The busy tech follows the clean up protocols, but misses the patient's own hand that's covering the wound. Patient uses the doorknob on the way out. You use the door knob on the way in. If you were to touch your nipple or baby's mouth before you had a chance to wash up, there's a definite possibility of infection. Same thing with staph or strep or anything else that might come through a reference lab like that.

If you're lucky enough to have a ped who will do draws in his or her office, that might be safer, as there's less traffic and probably fewer pathogens.

I see your point, but my toddler is much more likely to touch stuff then stick his hand in his mouth if he isn't nursing. Besides by 6 mo DS was self latching, no hands required.