You are the registered nurse performing a health assessment on anewborn infant. From the functional health pattern portion of the assessment, youlearn the mother is reluctant to breastfeed her baby. ow do you respond! “#plainthe approach you will ta$e to ensure ade%uate nutrition for the newborn, with orwithout breastfeeding. &ro’ide rationale for your answer. (f ( was a post)partum nurse and found out that my patient was reluctant tobreastfeed, ( belie’e ( would start by getting more information. (s mother fearful, isit religious beliefs, does she not ha’e enough information, or is it painful! (t isimportant to assess all the information before you begin any education, includingtheir willingness and ability to learn. *fter understanding the why, then ( wouldbegin to educate the mother about the bene+ts of breastfeeding. abies can digestbreast mil$ more easily than formula and breast mil$ contains all the nutrients thata baby needs to grow. (t also contains antibodies that will help baby +ght o- ‘irusesand bacteria later in life and tend to be sic$ less often. reastfeeding has also beenpro’en to decrease the ris$ of ha’ing asthma and allergies /eb0D, 213.4During infancy, a period of rapid growth, nutrient re%uirements per pound ofbody weight are proportionally higher than at any other time in the lifecycle5Department of *griculture, 26, p. 173./hether mom decides to breastfeedor bottle feed it is important to $now if the baby is getting enough nutrients. (f momdecides to breastfeed many times they are worried if the baby is getting enoughmil$ since there is no way actually to measure the amount of mil$ coming from thebreast. 8nfortunately, this may deter mothers from wanting to breastfeed. (t isimportant to reassure mom that it9s not as important how much baby is drin$ing,but there are so many other ways to ensure baby is getting the nutrients they need. These would include things li$e the baby is gaining weight at each ‘isit, or baby issoa$ing not damp3 diapers in a 2;)hour period. *lso, after the baby is donefeeding that he or she seems satis+ed and not fussy (nternational reastfeedingtell you if the baby is getting enough mil$ more than a number of ounces dran$. The nurse=s main priority is always to be supporti’e of their patient in whate’erdecision they ma$e. They also need to ma$e sure to pro’ide many resources andassist the patient as often as possible. eing a new mom can be one of the mostterrifying e#periences, and the nurse can only help or hinder this e#perience. >ursesneed to be at the bedside encouraging the patient and answering any %uestionsthey may ha’e. /hat a great role to ha’e in such an ama?ing miracle in life. @eferences:Department of *griculture . 263.
A Guide for Use in the WIC and CSF Program
./ashington, D.C,
@etrie’ed fromhttp:AAwww.nal.usda.go’Awicwor$sATopicsAFBAutritional>eeds.pdf (nternational reastfeeding
Is my baby getting enoughmilk
. @etrie’ed fromhttp:AAwww.nbci.caAinde#.php!optioncomCcontentEid27:is)my)baby)getting)enough)mil$E(temid1/eb0D. 213.
Health and Baby
. @etrie’ed from http:AAwww.webmd.comAparentingAbabyAnursing)basics