Tuesday, March 04, 2003

AMNews: March 10, 2003. Get ready for a new -- and nastier -- West Nile season ... American Medical News From an artile predicting issues with West Nile Virus this upcoming season: "Similarly, last season's experience found evidence supporting the potential for transmission in breast milk. But because the likelihood of such transmission is slim and the health benefits of breastfeeding are well-supported, medical specialty groups have shied away from offering caution. At this point, they feel that recommending policy changes could do more harm than good."
Pacifiers may derail breastfeeding
Reuters
March 3
MSNBC.com
"Breastfeeding mothers risk creating “nipple confusion” and other problems for their infant if they provide a pacifier or formula from a bottle, which can derail healthy breastfeeding, a study said Monday. BABIES PROVIDED with pacifiers a few days after birth were at 50 percent higher risk of no longer exclusively breastfeeding a month later, the study published in the journal Pediatrics said.
Study author Cynthia Howard of the University of Rochester, New York, said it was unclear from her study of 700 infants whether the “artificial nipples” presented by pacifiers and bottles made a baby’s mouth no longer conform to mother’s nipple — resulting in pain for the mother and frustration for the baby — or whether mothers of pacified babies expressed less milk." [ This article has a free abstract online: Cynthia R. Howard, Fred M. Howard, Bruce Lanphear, Shirley Eberly, Elisabeth A. deBlieck, David Oakes, and Ruth A. Lawrence
Randomized Clinical Trial of Pacifier Use and Bottle-Feeding or Cupfeeding and Their Effect on Breastfeeding
Pediatrics 2003; 111: 511-518
Chicago Tribune | Breast vs. bottle takes new turn
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"Breast vs. bottle takes new turn
By comparing new formula additives to mother's milk, companies mislead women, critics say
By Julie Deardorff
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 4, 2003

When a new infant formula appeared on store shelves in the U.S. last year, some scientists and pediatricians said it could narrow the nutrient gap between formula and breast milk.

Since then, however, breastfeeding activists have grown increasingly incensed over the new products, saying manufacturers mislead mothers and undermine efforts to promote breast-feeding, which is the consensus gold standard in infant nutrition.

The new ingredients in the formula had been sought for years, ever since scientists discovered that certain fatty acids found in breast milk and food are key building blocks for a baby's brain and eyes.

But for those who work to support breast-feeding, the existence of a formula that compares itself with breast milk in its advertising means breast-feeding is again under attack. They are especially angry that wording on the cans claims that the formulas, Enfamil Lipil and Similac Advance, contain nutrients found in breast milk."