Breastfeeding problems presenting to the emergency department: diagnosis and management

With more mothers breastfeeding their babies and postpartum stays in hospital becoming shorter, more mothers are presenting to the emergency department with problems that formerly were managed in the newborn nursery. This article deals with an approach to the breastfeeding baby who presents in the emergency department because of jaundice, poor feeding, "colic," gastrointestinal bleeding, and failure to thrive. Although many of these problems also occur in the bottle-feeding baby, only the special considerations which apply to the breastfeeding baby will be considered.