Recordnet.com A breast milk brouhaha
Moms cautioned against overreacting to vitamin D supplement report

By Paula Sheil
Record Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, April 29, 2003

"When Dr. Benjamin Spock was the mother's baby guru in the 1950s, she dutifully followed his recommendation to take baby outside for a few minutes every day to get some sun.

This was, of course, before global warming, ozone holes and sunscreen, but this sunbath wasn't about tanning or burning, but about getting a little dose of vitamin D, necessary for the development of strong bones.

Mothers' milk provided the rest of babies nutritional requirements. Now, a report issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics undermines breast milk as "the perfect food," by recommending that infants receive a vitamin D supplement, say lactation experts.

Breast milk fulfills babies complete nutritional requirements, said Rachel Ochoa, a lactation educator at Stockton's Delta Health Care WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. Everything that contradicts this "hurts those who are beginners and have fears as it is," she added...."