Have been cogitating about this for a while and
thought I would throw it out to the list to see if it rings any bells with
anyone else out there.
I work in a small unit where we tend to get to
know the mother's and babies pretty well and follow their progress with
interest. We have low intervention rates and low usage of intrapartum
narcotics and have well established baby friendly breastfeeding
practices. However I have been conscious
for some time of an increase in babies that display problems feeding day
2-3...babe's that feed well initially..but a day or 2 later and they don't
seem to know what they are doing...uptight, irritable ..uncoordinated
suck...some just downright cranky and bordering on breast refusal.
Initially I thought that it was perhaps just
normal disinclination to feed whilst recovering from birth (perhaps a little
cerebral oedema peaking 24 -48 hrs post birth related to molding) that had
been compounded by mishandling by midwives and anxious mothers trying to force
the babe to the breast when it wasn't ready and creating problems for the
babe. Many of these babes though haven't had any obvious cause for the
often extreme behaviour ie no excessive molding, or obvious birth trauma, no
drugs in labour.
I have been thinking for a while that I should do
a bit of a research project to try and explain what I have been seeing,
then thinking about the timeframe in which we have noticed these
problems it suddenly dawned on me that the only real systemic change we have
had has been the introduction of Hep B immunisation at birth.
The challenge of transition from intrauterine
existance to the extrauterine world is huge.
What if the added insult of Hep B vaccine at this time of major developmental
change and adjustment is just too much for them to process.
Perhaps this could explain why we have been having so many more babes
who are having a difficult time making the transition...babes who have had
drug free and relatively gentle birth..feeding beautifully initially then just
absolutely hitting the wall.
We have started to investigate and plan to do some research into it but I
wonder if anyone else has noticed any change in newborn behaviours in the last
two years since the introduction of the immunisation at birth.
Is anyone aware of any study done or currently underway.
I would appreciate your observations.
Sandra
