Breastmilk plea to save Luke THE parents of a desperately ill 15-week- old baby boy today appealed for human breast milk to save his life. Luke Kelly, from Stranmillis, was born gastroschesis, with his bowel outside his stomach, and now has little of his gut functioning. He needs specialist feeding and is being kept alive with an artificial formula, but needs human breast milk for its growth enhancing properties. Mum Cara (25), said Luke was so critically ill immediately after his birth that she was not encouraged to express milk for him because medical staff did not think her only child would survive. "My own milk flow was very slow and stopped about a week after Luke was born because of the stress," Cara said today. "He needs human milk because it has all the nutrients and growth hormones he needs." Luke is being kept alive on TPN formula and a supply of breast milk from the Human Milk Bank, but he needs a greater regular supply than the bank can handle.
[I wonder if anybody thougth to help this mom relactate? And isn't it too bad that their milk bank has such a low supply that the needs of ONE child can't be met. But, at least they have a milk bank... - J]

Life-saving initiative for newborn babies BLANTYRE, 30 Aug 2002 (IRIN) - Struggling with one of the highest child-mortality rates in the world, Malawi has launched an unconventional care programme aimed at saving the lives of newborn babies.

Malawi has a childhood mortality rate of 104 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) programme intends to halve that rate.

ABCNEWS.com : Infant Formula Ingredient Studied in Rats
Breast milk contains 4-6 micrograms per liter (mcg/L) of manganese, while milk-based infant formula contains about 30-50 mcg/L and soy formula contains 200-300 mcg/L. Manganese is a mineral that helps the cells to obtain energy and it is essential for life, but can be toxic at very high levels.

"Very little is actually known about the association between manganese and ADHD specifically," said Dr. James Perrin, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and co-chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics subcommittee on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "It's too soon to worry."

Is Soy Milk Dangerous For Babies? Researchers at the University of California at Irvine have found high levels of manganese in artificial baby milk mae from soy could be linked to ADHD.