Fred I am in awe too.
I don't usually post on bf/ff threads as I have mixed views once they blow up, but this one has really got to me, I do not take offence at any particular poster here btu really wish people took more care when talking about prem and sick babies where matters are often even more emotive than they are elsewhere.
I say that as the mother of a 29 weeker who is now 10 months and still bf. He's the only one who still is BF of the other mothers I know from my time in scbu, and was the only one who still was after 6 weeks post dischrage, although I know a few younger and older babies and mothers who managed it, they are the minority.
In my case I had a lot of support from the hospital, the midwives who got me expressing within hours and my milk came in in volume the day after DS was born (thankfully), the nicu and scbu staff espcailly the nurses who got kangaroo care going safely while DS was still on cpap and a bit unstable, the consultants who supported this, the lactation consultant who also helped, and just DS and my sheer bloody mindedness. Which is probably the main factor.
I agree that there should be discussion on these issues, am a lot of this thread is interesting. I know that there has been a request to change the title of this thread, and wish that had happened. This is because unless you have had a preterm or sick baby you don't personally know how difficult some of the issues with these babies are, and can be.
Prem mums know all about the risks of NEC, and other complications, at least in my hopsital. Many of us have children who have had NEC (thankfully I haven't)and lung and other diseases, many of us have faced regularly the thought that the baby may not make it, and do anything including trying desperataely to bf to help. In other cultures and other times, the babies would possibly have died. We know that. However many of us cannot get the milk in, cannot stay in hospital with the child, and feel desperately guilty about the fact the baby came early (as if we chose for that to happen), that we can't do much, that we aren't pregnant anymore, and often that we cannot even feed the baby we do have.
Also even with NGT tubes there aren't always choices, many pre term babies need more calories which is why nutriprem and infritrini are regulalrly prescribed as well as breast milk fortifiers.
BF should be supported but appropriately and not at all costs, prem mums are very high risk of PND, and also we are often medically advised (correctly) to give formula, or in my case to allow bottles when we cannot be with the baby overnight to encourage the suck reflex. I was also advised to give a dummy (for non nutritive sucking) The advice for prem and sick babies has to be tailored to the baby and the mum.
I was lucky back in March and I am still lucky as BF DS has also helped avoid hospital recently when he got bronchiolitus. But I do not know a single prem mum, even those who always planned to formula feed, who does not know, or is not quickly told why the babies need breastmilk more than ever. And I support this. I also do not know of a single mum even those who never planned to BF who do not express for absolutely as long as they can before milk dries up, they need other meds or there are other medically advised reasons. IMO and with teh experience of my friends It is after they start introducing the formula, or they feel they want to bottle feed to get the baby out of hospital often many weeks later that things change.
As I stated above my hospital is very good with these issues, I have nothing but praise for them, and the support they do give, but there are many factors including the fact you cannot stay in hospital with a prem baby for months on end, which must be taken into account in this debate, and in the research and the statistics.