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breastfeeding my 15 month old was protected and supported at childrens hospital  

post #1 of 17
10/21/08 at 2:16pm
Thread Starter 
Late Friday night/early Friday morning I had to take my baby to the ER because she was having problems breathing. It turned out she has pneumonia. We caught it really early, but she still needed oxygen, so she had to be admitted to the children's hospital. Because she was frequently nursing during our stay at the ER, the ER doc said she didn't require IV fluids. We were transported to the children's hospital where I had to put up a little fight to get a bed instead of a crib. They were like, "you understand you can not leave your baby" I was like, "um... yeah, I would never leave my baby" and they let us have a bed. The Attending Doc's Nurse gave me a huge lecture on how this was my fault because I didn't vaccinate and that "there is no excuse" for me to have not vaccinated. I didn't bother to argue the fact that you can't vaccinate against bacteria. no one else gave me a hard time about it. I didn't see that nurse again... I think she really didn't like me and she never came back. anyway, back to the breastfeeding: Because I was a "breastfeeding mom" I had meals brought to me where the other parents only had bagels for breakfast and a small "parents lunch" buffet. All the nurses that saw my DD (except the Dr's nurse) all said how great it was that I was breastfeeding. The respiratory therapist said that she was recovering so quickly because of the breastfeeding. We were able to leave on Sunday. DD needs more antibiotics and treatments daily with the nebulizer, but she's doing great.

It was nice to be so supported in a hospital (locally known) to be horrible formula pushers. of course DD is over a year, so maybe that's why, I don't know...
post #2 of 17
10/21/08 at 2:22pm
That's so great mama!

My DD was in the ER with an anapylactic reaction, so had to remain for 4-6 hours after they had the reaction stabilized which meant we were there from 6pm-2am. They knew I had missed supper and they knew DD was breastfeeding and they also knew that I had to come without my wallet so had no money with me and when my blood sugar was dropping so my arms were shaking while holding DD as she was nursing, the only thing the pediactrician said to me was "you should likely get something to eat". Gee, thanks.

So, I am glad to hear that some hospitals have more sense!
post #3 of 17
10/21/08 at 2:32pm
Thread Starter 
they were actually really great. got really nauseas from the nebulizer and when I stopped eating for a few hours, one nurse just grabbed a bagel and cream cheese for me and said, "you gotta eat, mom so you can feed your baby"

I was really shocked in a good way over how well they treated me and made such a big deal about protecting the breastfeeding. I wish all hospitals could be so supportive.
post #4 of 17
10/21/08 at 2:39pm
Do you think you might write a letter saying how you were impressed about their support? I'm wondering if it might be a good thing so that they realize their efforts were noticed and that breastfeeding moms appreciate it and NEED the support!
post #5 of 17
10/21/08 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 
actually, I will be receiving a survey in the mail and I know all the names of the nurses who treated me well as well as the respiratory therapists... I'll be filling it out and sending it back. They do read them, because I sent back a horrible one after my DD#1's birth and they called me to talk about it.
post #6 of 17
10/21/08 at 2:58pm
That is great. I had a similar experience with ds2 in hospital last Christmas, he was hospitalised for a week with severe RSV. I never left his side the whole time, and for 24 hrs had to pump as they had him on IV fluids (which I felt was unnecessary but still...) He was the only kid on the ward who was still tolerating feeds but he was dependent on oxygen for a good while. Anyway, I think they were pretty surprised I was still nursing him - lots of nurses assumed he was on formula, but the whole time I was there I got 3 meals a day brought to me as my milk was considered part of his treatment. Some of the other patients looked at me funny as they would only get fed if there were leftovers lol. but I really didn't care
post #7 of 17
10/21/08 at 3:35pm
That is awesome that you had that kind of support. Just for the record my dd was vaxed (before we had the research to back up our instincts) and she had pneumonia. Maybe you should x post this in the vaccine forum. They would probably have some interesting numbers etc to counter what that doc said. I think it was rude for him to imply that this was your fault. How outrageous! Imagine how many cases of pneumonia he sees in fully vaxed kids...what does he say to the parents then?
post #8 of 17
10/21/08 at 4:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovemybubus View Post
That is awesome that you had that kind of support. Just for the record my dd was vaxed (before we had the research to back up our instincts) and she had pneumonia. Maybe you should x post this in the vaccine forum. They would probably have some interesting numbers etc to counter what that doc said. I think it was rude for him to imply that this was your fault. How outrageous! Imagine how many cases of pneumonia he sees in fully vaxed kids...what does he say to the parents then?
It was the nurse, not the doc and she didn't imply it was my fault, she said it, straight up. I am fully vaxed and I had pneumonia when I was pregnant with DD#2 so her theory doesn't hold any water. You can't vaccinate against bacterial infections...
post #9 of 17
10/22/08 at 1:00am
That is awesome that they were so respectful of your breastfeeding. I'm so glad your dd is on the mend.

Respectfully, you can vaccinate against bacteria. Prevnar, tetanus and hib are all all vaccines designed to prevent bacterial illness. That said, your nurse was out of line. There is no way of knowing if your daughter's pneumonia could have been prevented with a vaccination and she had no right to be so beligerent while your baby girl was so sick. :
post #10 of 17
10/22/08 at 11:56am
Thank goodness you were still nursing her! She's such a lucky baby. And I'm so glad to hear your positive hospital story. Most importantly, glad to hear she's recovering so quickly.
post #11 of 17
10/22/08 at 10:24pm
that's awesome. I had a similar experience this summer. My DS was bitten severly by my parents' dog (totally unprovoked, we put a lot of time into learning to respect animals) and had to have emergency surgery and stay o/n at a children's hospital. Since the bite was on his face, he was limited to a soft food/liquid diet. Well, as you can imagine, my 17 month old wanted nothing to do with the nasto cream of wheat and custard they sent him for breakfast, and I wasn't about offer him the HFCS yogurt they sent but, since he was nursing soooo well, they released us early.

i had nothing but support from everyone. I asked for a pump in the ER, knowing it would be a while before I could nurse him, and I had one within 5 mintues. The nurses at the children's hospital made sure my milk was labeled and put in the fridge, and packed it up nicely for me when we got to go home.

made a horrible situation just a little less so...
post #12 of 17
10/22/08 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pumpkinhead View Post
Respectfully, you can vaccinate against bacteria. Prevnar, tetanus and hib are all all vaccines designed to prevent bacterial illness.
I was just going to post that you can vaccinate against bacteria...

however, the tetanus vaccine actually vaccinates against the toxin caused by the bacteria, not the bacteria itself...

-Angela
post #13 of 17
10/22/08 at 11:12pm
that is so awesome I hope your LO gets better quickly, I can only pray if I have to go through the same thing I'm treated this way
post #14 of 17
10/23/08 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by alegna View Post
I was just going to post that you can vaccinate against bacteria...

however, the tetanus vaccine actually vaccinates against the toxin caused by the bacteria, not the bacteria itself...

-Angela
I stand corrected

I had a feeling Tetanus was bacterial I do sometimes put my foot in my mouth. well.... If I brought in my DD for tetanus, prevnar or HIB, then I guess the nurse could have blamed me for the hospitalization...

They also called me yesterday (I missed the call), just to see if she was feeling better.
post #15 of 17
10/23/08 at 11:20am
I've had good and bad experiences with hospitals and breastfeeding. When DS was around 18 months, he got pneumonia. I took him to the ER, but he didn't have to be admitted. We got a script for antibiotics and the doc was telling me about the side effects. He mentioned diarrhea and said I should get some Pedialite. I said that I was nursing and he just said "Oh, nevermind then." Both docs I saw were glad he was still nursing.

In a different hospital, my friend's infant son had to have surgery to get a shunt put in his head. I offered to pump him some breastmilk to help him recover (nipple confusion + 3 surgeries = nursing didn't work out) and she accepted. When the nurse found out that it was my breastmilk we gave him and not his mom's, we had no less than THREE people come in to tell us we couldn't do that because they couldn't be responsible if he got a disease from me or something. This was AFTER we gave him the one bottle's worth of milk I'd managed to pump and AFTER the mom told the nurse she wanted him to have it.
post #16 of 17
10/23/08 at 11:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by minkajane View Post
In a different hospital, my friend's infant son had to have surgery to get a shunt put in his head. I offered to pump him some breastmilk to help him recover (nipple confusion + 3 surgeries = nursing didn't work out) and she accepted. When the nurse found out that it was my breastmilk we gave him and not his mom's, we had no less than THREE people come in to tell us we couldn't do that because they couldn't be responsible if he got a disease from me or something. This was AFTER we gave him the one bottle's worth of milk I'd managed to pump and AFTER the mom told the nurse she wanted him to have it.
My friend has had the same experience using donor breastmilk for her baby in the NICU. They got around it by signing an AMA release. I would probably opt to not disclose it wasn't the bio mom's milk....
post #17 of 17
10/23/08 at 11:49am
Agreed about not telling. If the milk was brought in pumped by mom, they'd have no way of knowing where it came from. We assume if mom or dad hands milk to us, it came from them.

Giving the *wrong* breastmilk in a hsopital setting is akin to giving the wrong kind of blood. It's considered a tissue.
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