A Pediatric Nurse
by Barbara Dehn - 09th December 2007
Today, I saw a friend who works in Pediatrics at a large metropolitan hospital and who cares for many babies who are hospitalized for a variety of reasons. Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit are able to get banked breast milk and formula if their moms aren’t able to produce enough breast milk. For many of these moms, the stress, the lack of sleep or other reasons make it impossible for them to pump enough milk for their babies. The nurses provide hospital grade pumps and lots of support to help the moms keep up their milk supply. They do everything they can to help the babies receive breast milk.
Sometimes, it’s necessary to use formula to provide the necessary nutrition to the babies in the hospital. There are lots of different types of formula available and different concentrations with varied amounts of protein and calories. There are even specialty formulas for babies with allergies and metabolic disorders. The nurses rely on these specialty formulas to keep the children alive and growing.
It’s a comfort for the parents to know that there are options available for their children to provide the best nutrition. It’s only through the research and development of new formulations that this is even possible. There are many premies and other babies who would not be alive without these formulas.
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