Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Breast-feeding working mothers find ways to overcome barriers
(Free registration required)
Last update: March 31, 2004 at 10:03 AM
Maria Elena Baca,Star Tribune
March 31, 2004

"Midmorning and midafternoon every workday for the past 16 months, Kelly Jo McDonnell has hung a warning sign on her office door: 'Expressing breast milk.' McDonnell, 34, of Lino Lakes returned to work when her son, Hayden, was 10 weeks old. As operations director for Ron Schara Enterprises in St. Louis Park, she sets up Schara's stories and trips for the 'Minnesota Bound' series. 'I love my job,' she said, 'but deep down there was a small part of me that wished I could be home with Hayden. This was something I could do to keep that bond with him.' Schara said he didn't see how he could not support her.'After all, this is a nature show,' he said. 'It would be sort of for us to say you can't go the natural way.' Hayden has had only one ear infection and is almost never sick. And McDonnell is fiercely loyal to her boss. Contrast that with the experience of Margi Bintner. Bintner, 41, of Brooklyn Park, gave birth to daughters Mackenzie, 8, and Sophia, 4, while working in Las Vegas at a 'high-pressure sales job.' Determined to breast-feed Mackenzie after she returned to work, she locked herself in her workplace's single toilet stall to express milk. Faced with constant interruption, she purchased a converter so she could use her electric pump in her car, its air conditioning system on full blast against the searing temperatures outside..."



Her co-workers said she was a drag on their sales numbers and urged her to stop breastfeeding.



She stuck with it for eight months with Mackenzie, and four months with Sofia. 'No one was going to stop me because I knew how good it was,' she said. 'I was a single mother, and I was going to give her the best fighting chance, health-wise.' "
Type of powder Enfalac recalled, incorrect scoop may cause overconcentration
Canadian Press
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
OTTAWA (CP) - "The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Mead Johnson Nutritionals are warning consumers not to use the powder Enfalac Pregestimil Hypoallergenic Infant Formula described below. The affected product may contain an incorrect size of scoop, which would result in the prepared formula being overconcentrated.... "

Monday, March 29, 2004

WTOL-TV Toledo, OH: Distracted Driving in Michigan
LANSING, MI (AP) "Three state legislators have introduced bills meant to crack down on driving distractions. Representative John Pastor is sponsoring legislation making it a civil infraction to drive with an animal in one's lap. An aide to the Livonia Republican says the measure was prompted by constituents seeing ``huge dogs'' on drivers' laps. Another bill would outlaw breast-feeding while operating a vehicle. It would require that the infant be secured in a safety seat while riding.... "

Monday, March 22, 2004

Cystic Fibrosis Gene Linked to Fatty Acids
Genome News Network
By Cheryl Simon Silver
February 20, 2004
"New research suggests that the gene that causes cystic fibrosis may affect a person' ability to metabolize ordinary fatty acids. The new information adds another piece to the complex puzzle of a devastating disease that has eluded a cure since the discovery of the cystic fibrosis (CF) gene more than a decade ago....

Freedman's finding that mice with the CF gene don't become sick until they are weaned from their mother's milk also suggests a fatty acid link. Human breast milk, like the milk from mice, is rich in DHA as well as other beneficial substances such as antimicrobial proteins. O'Sullivan has conducted a survey of mothers whose children are treated in cystic fibrosis clinics. He says there are "tantalizing hints" that breast feeding might also be beneficial for human babies who will develop cystic fibrosis. Thus, at his clinic and others, mothers of babies with the cystic fibrosis gene are strongly encouraged to breast feed. In future studies, the researchers will try to determine whether adding DHA to infant formula is equally beneficial and whether nursing mothers should take supplemental DHA..."
Study Offers New Model for Breast Cancer
: "Mon Mar 22 15:14:35 2004 Pacific Time
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- The last few years have witnessed critical advances in breast cancer therapies. Still, the disease afflicts one in eight American women, and scientists have yet to develop a living model with which they can study the intricacies of human breast-tumor behavior. Now, a team in the lab of scientist Robert Weinberg at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research has successfully grafted human breast tissue into the mammary glands of mice. As a result, the mice formed functional breasts that are capable of producing human breast milk. More importantly, some of these mice were engineered to form early-stage breast tumors like those found in humans. "[Mice capable of producing human breast milk. Why does that sound so disturbing? - J]
Times Record News: Washington: "Dry infant formula can be dangerous, researchers warn

By LANCE GAY
March 22, 2004



Disease detectives say a food-borne bacteria that causes rare but frequently fatal brain disorders in babies is found in almost one in four samples of powdered infant formula.

Donald Zink, a scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said it's not possible with current technologies to kill the pathogen in the processing of infant food, and the agency is alerting the public and neo-natal centers to recognize that dried infant formula is not a sterile product."
Sensitivity to Dietary Proteins released in Breast Milk Causing Colic in Infants
Advances in the Treatment and Diagnosis of Food Allergy Presented at the 2004 AAAAI Annual Meeting
Monday March 22, 12:00 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO, March 22 /PRNewswire/

"Colic in breast-fed infants younger than 6 weeks of age is associated with intolerance to dietary proteins excreted in breast milk. These findings were presented today at the 2004 AAAAI Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Over a seven-day period, David J Hill, FAAAAI, and colleagues from Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, studied breastfed infants with colic less than 6 weeks old. Mothers were randomly assigned to a 'low- allergen' diet that excluded milk, egg, wheat, peanut, tree nuts and fish or a 'control' diet that included these foods. Ninety infants completed the program; 47 receiving the 'low allergen' and 43 the 'control' diet. More children in the 'low-allergen' group (74%) than in the control group (34%) saw a 25% decrease in their distress. In the last 48 hours of the study, the 'low-allergen' group had 128 minutes less distress than the 'control' group."

Friday, March 05, 2004

Contra Costa Times | 03/05/2004 | Baby formula marketing effort upsets advocates of breastfeeding: "Posted on Fri, Mar. 05,
By Miriam Jordan
WALL STREET JOURNAL
"ANAHEIM - By the dozens, mothers with strollers and protruding bellies approach the stand of the only infant-formula company exhibiting at an annual baby-products fair here. Like many others, Alicia Araujo leaves the booth clutching a free sample can. 'They were very helpful,' she says, pushing a carriage with her 4-month-old, Danielle. Nestle SA is betting on Hispanic mothers like Araujo to boost its share of the $3 billion U.S. infant-formula market -- and some doctors and breast-feeding advocates are irate. The company has begun promoting Nan, a leading brand in Latin America, just as the U.S. government is poised to launch the first campaign in a century to persuade low-income, minority mothers to breast-feed. At issue is whether companies should market baby formula to low-income immigrant mothers when health experts and government officials agree that breast-feeding is healthier, and saves in long-term health care costs. Most health professionals say breast milk is superior to formula for infants, except in rare cases such as when a mother is HIV-positive. Doctors also recommend that all women breast-feed their babies for at least the first six months of life...."
'Breast-feeding dads' help cut infant mortality
The Jakarta Post - The Journal of Indonesia Today
Features - February 29, 2004
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"The term 'breast-feeding fathers' does not describe a new technology enabling men to produce breast milk and then feed their babies. Breast-feeding fathers are husbands who are aware of the importance of breast milk -- the ultimate baby food -- and are getting involved in the breast-feeding process. A study by the United States' Department of Pediatrics found that fathers played a significant role in successful breast-feeding, meaning the good production and 'distribution' of breast milk. Its study of 115 postpartum mothers found that of those women whose husbands were not involved in the breast-feeding process, only 26.9 percent had no trouble breast-feeding. For those women whose husbands were involved in the process, the percentage of success was 98.1 percent. "

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Public breast-feeding pushed
"February 26, 2004
BY LESLIE GRIFFY, Chicago Sun-Times Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD -- Almost half of the states allow breast-feeding in public places, but a LaGrange mother discovered the hard way that Illinois isn't one of them. Now, legislators are trying to rectify that...."

Monday, March 01, 2004

Reuters AlertNet - Standard tests not enough for baby formula-report
"WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - Standard tests of food safety are not good enough when it comes to infant formula ingredients, a panel of experts said on Monday. Because formula is so important to the growth and development of babies, more care must be taken in testing ingredients for safety and nutrition value, the Institute of Medicine panel said. 'The current regulatory processes do not fully address the unique role of formula as a food source,' Dr. Richard Deckelbaum of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University, who chaired the panel, said in a statement. 'Formula is infants' only food if they are not being breast-fed. The processes used to regulate the safety of any new additions to formula should be tailored to these products' distinct role and the special needs and susceptibilities of infants. Our report offers a set of guidelines and steps to accomplish this goal.'..."
ESPNSoccernet.com: Europe: The breast to the Bernabeu: "Luis Figo, so the story goes, fancies a couple of years at Old Trafford, a move which would leave the right-hand lane clear for the young pup Joaquin. This may well be the case, for Joaquin is an excellent player with characteristics not a mile removed from those of the Portuguese winger. He has a certain distance to travel as yet before he can claim Figo's greatness, but if he does sign for Madrid then he would do well to keep some of the family secrets out of the newspapers.

According to the potted biography of the player that appeared in the papers this weekend (a sure sign that he probably is on his way to the Bernabeu) he was breast-fed by his mother (who else?) up to the ripe old age of six. More graphically the narrative informed us of the fact that when Joaquin started to play competitively at this very age, he would forego the half-time oranges (plenty of those in Seville) for a quick tweak of the maternal paps, apparently unconcerned as to the reaction this would often provoke among his team-mates."
IOL : Breast-fed babies have lower blood pressure
Reuters
By Maggie Fox
"Washington - Breast-fed babies grow up to have lower blood pressure than bottle-fed children, British researchers reported on Monday. This could mean they will have lower blood pressure as adults, and thus a lower risk of heart disease, the No 1 killer in the industrialised world, the researchers said...."