Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Mar
19
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“Formula Is Just As Good As Breast Milk.”
“Formula is just as good as breast milk.” -NICU nurse to mother of baby in NICU who was inadvertently fed formula instead of the expressed breast milk in the fridge.
There are 35 comments to this post.
The Deranged Housewife had this to say,
Mar 19, 2010 @ 3:46 pm (Quote)
Oh dear God …
“And I’m also getting lots of free pens, clocks, notepads and tote bags to tell you this, by the way,” the nurse adds.
So sad. Keep pumping, mama!
[Reply]
Yeah, except for that deadly disease that particularly affects preemies and newborns, necrotizing enterocolitis and a host of about 50 other things.
[Reply]
Reality Rounds had this to say,
Mar 19, 2010 @ 4:20 pm (Quote)
NICU nurse here. I have never, ever worked in a NICU where breastfeeding was not encouraged. A lot of the research done that promotes the benefits of breast milk was conducted in NICU’s.
My guess is this nurse fed the baby formula by accident and was trying to cover her a** when the mom confronted her. Obviously not very professional! The nurse should have just admitted her mistake, and consoled the mom that she would make every effort for this not to happen again.
On the other end of the spectrum, I once worked with a lactation consultant who told a NICU mom who stopped pumping, that giving formula was equivalent to feeding her critically ill child rat poison. (Ohh, maybe I should submit that quote!)
[Reply]
Jane Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:12 pm (Quote)
That was my first thought too, that the nurse was covering for her mistake and should just have said, “Oh no! I screwed up!”
When my son was in NICU, I called to tell them I was coming in, and that I’d feed him when we got there and we could store the EBM in the fridge. When I arrived (ten minutes later) they had fed him already. I couldn’t figure out at the time whether that was an act of sabotage or stupidity.
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:22 pm (Quote)
They did this to me with my first son all the time! He had to stay an extra 36 hours in the hospital for jaundice, and even though they KNEW we were on our way, we would always arrive to find out that they had just fed him.
The joke’s on them, though. He’d vomit up every last ounce of formula they gave him, and then nurse for 30 minutes anyway. That’s my boy!
[Reply]
Erin Reply:
March 20th, 2010 at 5:44 pm (Quote)
A friend of mine had twins and one had to be in the NICU, and they did everything they could to discourage breastfeeding. First of all, they would not allow the other baby in the hospital at all, b/c of swine flu risk. (Where is a newborn going to get the swine flu? Even if he was exposed, then my friend would have been too). So my friend was splitting time between the hospital and hotel, driving back and forth to feed her babies. Every time she walked in the nurses harassed her b/c she didn’t want them giving him formula. It was tough enough not being able to stay there with her new baby, but those nurses went out of their way to make her miserable.
[Reply]
Jennifer B. had this to say,
Mar 19, 2010 @ 4:44 pm (Quote)
We brought donated expressed breastmilk with us to the hospital when we learned that we would not be able to avoid a cesarean. I have Diabetes and KNEW they would need to give my daughter something before I could nurse her. So glad the NICU and nursery nurses here are breastfeeding friendly. I haven’t even been OFFERED formula in any way shape or form.
Sorry to go off on a tangent… I just think it is so important to let people know when a place is GOOD for once. Go Tacoma General!
[Reply]
Micah Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:19 pm (Quote)
That’s awesome! If for some reason I ever had to have a c-section I would do the same.
[Reply]
VW Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:05 pm (Quote)
At the breastfeeding class I took at a hospital here in NZ, they told us that some people (diabetes, likely c-sections) should consider hand-expressing colostrum, collecting it in tiny syringes (no needles) and freezing it after 37 weeks of pregnancy to have on hand to feed. Seems like a good idea.
My daughter unexpectedly ended up in the NICU and I hand-expressed colostrum that she was fed with a syringe. Not a drop of formula and no artificial nipples were put in her mouth. As is, they require consent from parents to feed formula.
It’s nice when a country signs up to the WHO Code.
[Reply]
Erin Reply:
March 20th, 2010 at 5:45 pm (Quote)
That was very smart of you! I’m glad you had a supportive hospital.
[Reply]
Swan Reply:
March 20th, 2010 at 10:30 pm (Quote)
We were really supported at the Tacoma General NICU, too. 
It’s very proud of being a baby-friendly hospital.
Also, on the topic of having milk on hand at the birth, my sister’s baby didn’t nurse right away, then needed something to perk him up before he would be interested in nursing. The midwife didn’t even suggest formula or sugar water, she asked my sister if I could give him some of my milk (she knew I was nursing my 2-year-old). He had a few drops of my milk, perked up, and has been nursing from his mama like a champ ever since (15 months).
[Reply]
Jennifer B. Reply:
March 21st, 2010 at 11:29 am (Quote)
Yeah for TG!
My girl has been nursing like a pro since I got her back after my cesarean. She was a bit reluctant to open her mouth wide enough at first but we quickly worked that out.
[Reply]
Alana had this to say,
Mar 19, 2010 @ 4:58 pm (Quote)
Same thing happened to our oldest who was born at 36w. I was pumping every two hours day and night and taking it to the NICU for him, but they told me they ‘needed’ to give him formula and they were swabbing his mouth with the bm. I was upset but let them because I didn’t know any better. Sadly, he did end up with NEC and a colostomy for 10 weeks.
[Reply]
Krista had this to say,
Mar 19, 2010 @ 8:24 pm (Quote)
I actually had a friend whose daughter was put in the NICU (you know, the place where the put healthy 13 lb. vaginally birthed babies!) for [mild] jaundice. My friend pumped colostrum and milk for her. When she asked why the baby was being given formula, they said they gave it to the babies who needed it worse. WTF??? She also ended up with a PIC line (oops – wrong baby!) And they put it in wrong and almost killed her. Kept her in NICU for hours without letting mom or dad in while they fixed it without telling them what was going on. Just kept saying her temp was low. The only thing they did better than this nurse? When she confronted the staff about the bandage, they admitted what had been done. Of course it was one of those things where they acted like “we screwed up, but she’s ok, so no harm, no foul”. …and people wonder why I chose a freebirth when I couldn’t find a midwife…
[Reply]
Heather P Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:32 pm (Quote)
Woah, so many of those things were just wrong.
[Reply]
Heather P Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 8:33 pm (Quote)
I’ts not no harm, no foul if they almost killed her with their unneccesary interventions.
[Reply]
The Deranged Housewife Reply:
March 20th, 2010 at 5:49 am (Quote)
A PICC line? Holy crap!
That reminds me of when i went to the ER for vaginal bleeding in my first pregnancy. I was so scared I was having a miscarriage so we just did it without thinking. They were supposed to draw blood and ended up doing a freaking blood gas instead, which basically feels like someone has punched you in the arm for an hour. I had bruising all over my arm for over a week. BUt at least they admitted their mistake, even though they still charged my insurance for it.
[Reply]
I would really like to know what the response to this lie was, because I would be up in arms and probably not even leave my baby’s side for the rest of my stay. I’d also like to know what school this nurse went to and what books she used that would teach her this lie.
[Reply]
intorainbowz Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 10:49 pm (Quote)
This was mine, and my response was to get the one very breastfeeding friendly neo to remove the order allowing them to feed her formula. I couldn’t stay with her 24/7 because she was there for 7 weeks.
[Reply]
I actually don’t have anything against formula. My niece is on formula because she wouldn’t nurse. So I think people who act like moms that feed their babies formula are “bad mothers” are actually kind of evil.
HOWEVER, I clicked “dislike” because the nurse should take responsibility and apologize for her mistake, not make excuses!
[Reply]
Kat Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:04 pm (Quote)
I agree with you Jpeaslee.
Formula absolutely saves lives, there is no doubt. I have known several women who had to use formula, and of course they are all great mommas!
It’s just discouraging when false information and misleading advertising are used to discourage women from breastfeeding who are able to breastfeed, who want to breastfeed, and whose medically fragile babies in the NICU desperately need their mother’s breastmilk, and the protection it gives from NEC, etc.
I don’t have anything against formula itself, only those who seem determined to push it on mothers and babies who really don’t need it.
[Reply]
Sadly this is one of the lies that I would like to believe. Despite my greatest effort I was unable to breastfeed(I greatly desired to do so) due to a ‘birth defect’ and later surgery to fix it, I was unable to produce milk.
But we fought for a month to make it work before I had to give up. I still cry when I think about it because I feel like a failure.
So I’m just going to put my fingers in my ears and go “lalala” and pretend this is true. Even though I KNOW that breastmilk is best.
[Reply]
Kat Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 pm (Quote)
Jessa, I am so very sorry you were unable to breastfeed. It breaks my heart to read stories like yours. You are NOT a failure, you are a great mom, doing the best you can with what you have!
Have you ever looked into using donor milk from a friend or relative? There are even groups where women who have had all the necessary health screenings share milk with other moms. I know some people are not comfortable with this, but others don’t realize it’s an option, so I am tossing it out there in case you could benefit.
((gentle hugs)) Please do not give in to feelings that you are not a good mother because you couldn’t breastfeed. There is so much more that goes into being a good parent!
[Reply]
Jessa Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:47 pm (Quote)
Sadly I did not/do not know any one IRL who is breastfeeding. My only friend who was had given all her pumped milk to her micro-premmie(he needed it way more than my super healthy full term baby.) and stopped months before my baby was born and hated pumping. The closest milkbank I could find is a state away and we cannot afford it.
So we had no options for donor milk. I’ve come to terms with it. It cheers me up just a little that at least our formula has the word breastmilk on the can “Our closest formula to breastmilk!” LOL.
[Reply]
Kat Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:04 pm (Quote)
It’s true, formula has come a LONG way from the days when my grandparents were told by the pediatrician to mix corn syrup and condensed milk and just give that to their babies. Oh and they claimed that stuff was better than breastmilk, because breastmilk wasn’t rich enough, etc. etc.
At least now the people making formula know enough to TRY to make it as close to breastmilk as possible!
[Reply]
LeedleFishy Reply:
May 23rd, 2010 at 2:56 pm (Quote)
I know I’m responding to this a couple months “late” but wanted to say I can relate to the frustration of not having things near where you live! I’ve looked repeatedly for mommy groups and there aren’t any closer than a town or two away. It’d be terrible if I couldn’t find support for things like breastfeeding or the kind of birth I desired! *more hugs!* And I second what Kat said — Jessa, you’re not a bad mommy! <3
[Reply]
My daughter was born at 36 weeks and was a gastroschisis baby. Her intestines were on the outside. She was in the NICU for 3 weeks. They let me pump for her and kept all the milk in the hospital freezer and when she could finally eat they just thawed it and gave that to her. When she was able to eat a little more they let me try to breastfeed her. Unfortunately she wouldn’t latch on right after spending 2 weeks on the bottle. The NICU was VERY supportive of my wish to not give her any formula. After she got home though she had to be switched to formula because she wouldn’t nurse and even though I pumped I dried up. I really wish she would have been able to bf but she is now a very healthy, happy, 6 month old little girl.
[Reply]
Add Your Comment.
to quote the wife of Miracle Max – LIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
[Reply]
Micah Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 5:14 pm Micah(Quote)
I love all the PB quotes on this site.
My fave movie of all time.
[Reply]
Jennifer B. Reply:
March 21st, 2010 at 11:26 am Jennifer B.(Quote)
TPB is a classic!
[Reply]