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Hospital Stays and Breastfeeding
How to Preserve Your Nursing Relationship
By Amy Carey
It is every mother's worst fear: She or Baby must be hospitalized. And if she's a breastfeeding mother, hospitalization is even more worrisome. How will she maintain her milk supply, what if Baby must fast or she is given medication? Whether Mom is just getting the hang of nursing or is part of an experienced nursing pair, any time spent away from Baby is going to be stressful.
"There may be situations where breastfeeding may not be permitted [for a period of time], but the mother can pump her breasts to maintain her milk supply until the baby and mother can resume breastfeeding at the breast," says Pat Lindsey, an international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) in Orlando, Fla.
For example, when Selina Burt's baby was just 9 days old, Burt was rushed to the hospital with a systemic infection requiring antibiotics. The doctors who saw her insisted she "pump and dump" (express breastmilk using a pump, then throw the milk away) for the next 15 hours while she was being treated. "The next day, I had a follow-up with my [regular doctor] who said that the antibiotics I was given were fine for nursing moms," says the Kirksville, Mo. mother. "We went back to nursing right there in his office."
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