These publications point out that we don't really know what the 'correct' level of hypoglycaemia is in a healthy, term breastfed newborn - so when babies are tested, no one really knows what they're looking for. And more than that, there's no evidence that low blood sugar without any other signs of illness is harmful. So routine testing of healthy, term newborns who show no signs of low blood sugar simply isn't warranted by the clinical evidence. You'd think that would mean the end of unnecessary testing, but the picture in the UK is still very variable. The new guidelines, new papers in the journals, and the discussion they've led to, mean a lot of maternity units are revising their policies about hypoglycaemia, but change in some places happens very slowly.
Most newborns wake and want frequent feeding especially in the first few days.
But some babies are sleepy in the first couple of days or so, and feeding can take that time, and even longer, to really get going. That's even more likely to be the case in babies whose mothers had pethidine or diamorphine for pain relief in labour, because this can cause a baby to be very sleepy for the first few days. There's no good research into how long it's safe to leave a baby without being fed. But in fact, maternity units who support breastfeeding won't be looking at the clock, but the baby. Sleepy babies do need observation, and encouragement to perk up and feed.