Accra Daily Mail - Online: "Exclusive breastfeeding affecting sale of baby food
GNA | Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2005
Promotion of exclusive breastfeeding of babies for the first six months in the Ho municipality is affecting sales of infant formulas in the municipality.
Despite the general decline in sales, shops still continue to stock and hang out promotional signs about such infant formulas.
This picture emerged during a Breastfeeding Promotion Regulation Monitoring exercise in health facilities, shops and among lactating mothers in Ho.
Officials of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the media "

FOXNews.com - Health - Fortified Formula Boosts Infant Development
Monday, April 25, 2005
By Salynn Boyles
Fox News
"Breast milk may be best, but there is more evidence that women who can't breastfeed can give their babies a boost by feeding them formulas fortified with the omega-3 fatty acids. The baby formulas, which contain the fatty acids DHA and ARA, have been available in the United States for a little more than a year. In one new study, full-term infants (those born after 37 weeks of pregnancy) who were fed a fortified baby formula showed clear benefits in terms of visual development compared with infants fed nonfortified formula. In another, preterm infants gained weight faster and showed enhanced brain development when fed fortified formulas. Neither study compared fortified baby formulas with breast milk, however, although one did use breastfed babies as a reference group. Both were paid for by Mead Johnson Nutritionals, the maker of a best-selling DHA/ARA fortified formula.... [Many online news sites pull headlines for articles related to the main article. This one has two headlines alongisde: "Fuel Chemical Found In Breast Milk" and "Breastfeeding May Promote Healthy Weight." - one positive and one negatve. - JC]
"

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Joanna Moorhead: One long experience
After 13 years of breastfeeding, the time has finally come to hang up my drop-cup bra
Joanna Moorhead
Wednesday April 20, 2005
The Guardian
"Like their 15 minutes of fame, everyone should have their claim to rarity. So here is mine: I'm a long-term breastfeeder. That could mean I'm one of the 43% of mothers feeding for more than six weeks, or one of the 29% still carrying on at four months, or even one of the 14% hanging on in there at nine months. But the truth is I don't know exactly how small the minority is that I'm in, because I have been breastfeeding for 13 years - and no one seems to be collating the figures that far down the line.... "

The China Post: "DOH head apologizes over infant formula issue (Updated 01:11 A.M.)
2005/4/21
The China Post staff and CNA
The head of the Department of Health (DOH) apologized yesterday over the way the department handled the issue of suspected tainted infant formula produced by French manufacturer Celia and reassured the public that the contaminated products did not enter the Taiwan market...."

WKYT 27 NEWSFIRST & WYMT Mountain News - Kentucky Father Campaigns For Breast Milk
"JB Hawes says he's looking for breast milk from any healthy woman willing to donate. 'To justify what I have, all the blessings I've received, I try to give back as much as possible', says Hawes. Three years ago, Hawes picked up a lady who was hitch-hiking. Four months ago, he saw her pregnant. 'She called and she was crying and didn't know what she was going to do with the baby and I said, well, would you let me adopt it?' He picked up Aden at 3 days old. Hawes refuses to give Aden anything but breast milk. He says breast milk makes the little boy a lot happier. When his supply ran scarce he begin advertising. He's received 75 responses that he both screens and interviews. 'Basically, I'm trying to find mothers who really are, in my opinion, true mothers', says Hawes. Fifty five bags of breast milk were delivered to Hawes last week by two willing donors in Louisville..."

The Australian: Breast is yet to come for US babies [April 11, 2005]
"Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent
April 11, 2005
BREASTS – more specifically, my wife's breasts – have been a contentious issue since we arrived in Washington DC. Everywhere we go they seem to come up – after they come out.
Breastfeeding, that's what this is about. I knew from previous travels here that there was a bit of prudishness about the place but I wasn't prepared for a debate about breastfeeding. I thought that one had been done and dusted...."

Two New Studies Show Fatty Acids DHA and ARA Significantly Aid Infant Development
Thursday April 14, 2:27 pm ET
"COLUMBIA, Md., April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Infant formula supplemented with DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid) significantly benefits infant development, according to two new studies. One study showed benefits to visual acuity in term infants, while the other demonstrated enhanced growth and higher Bayley mental and psychomotor development of preterm infants. Both studies used Enfamil Lipil® infant formulas from Mead Johnson Nutritionals, which contain levels of DHA and ARA similar to median worldwide amounts reported for breast milk (0.36% DHA and 0.72% ARA of total fatty acids)...."

WYTV - Breast Feeding Addressed by Bill
Breast Feeding Addressed by Bill
Columbus
Associated Press
"The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that would entitle mothers to nurse their babies in any public place where the woman is otherwise allowed. Senator Patricia Clancy sponsored a similar bill that cleared a House committee in December, when she was a representative. It didn’t get a full vote before the end of the year and died. Ohio lawmakers as recently as 1997 insisted they shouldn’t get involved in the issue...."

The Australian: Milk's up, and mums can bank on it [April 08, 2005]: "Milk's up, and mums can bank on it
Paige Taylor
April 08, 2005

THE frustration is small but real - joyful first-time mother Carmel Tustin is among thousands of Australian women whose babies' special nutrition needs exceed what one human body can produce.
Mrs Tustin's twins, Grace and Thomas, who were born 11 weeks early and need eight daily feeds of high-protein milk, are doing well at Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital on a mixture of their mother's milk and cow's milk formula. "

NH tests water for lead, cooper content: "
MNSUN - News
(Created 4/7/2005 9:19:47 AM)
"In 2004, the city of New Hope tested drinking water for lead and copper content in a number of homes, as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than 10 percent of the homes tested were above the federal action level for lead in drinking water. More lead and copper testing is scheduled for 2005. Lead seldom occurs naturally in water supplies, but enters water primarily as a result of corrosion of materials in household plumbing that contains lead. Exposure to too much lead can create significant health problems, particularly for young children and pregnant women. "

Scientists disagree over whether breast is best for AIDS babies
Taipei Times
DPA , JOHANNESBURG
Thursday, Apr 07, 2005,Page 9
"Breastfeeding, a practice that is encouraged internationally, is under scrutiny in Africa where little research has been undertaken on this method of nourishing infants in a time of AIDS. Breast milk carries the AIDS virus. It is widely accepted that an estimated 15 percent of infants who are breastfed by infected mothers contract the virus. Yet breastfeeding is still widely promoted as the safest option in Africa, where AIDS is rife and where the sanitary conditions needed for the preparation of artificial infant foods do not prevail..."

SitNews - Column: Time for Congress to get serious about WHO's excesses By James K. Glassman
By James K. Glassman
Scripps Howard News Service
April 04, 2005, Monday
"Paul Volcker's report last week on the oil-for-food scandal uncovered shocking incompetence and venality at the United Nations. But if Congress really wants to reform the agency, the place to start is the World Health Organization (WHO), which, in the latest absurdity, has embarked on a campaign to drive baby formula underground - and, eventually, off the face of the earth. The big losers if the WHO is successful will, of course, be the world's poor - the same victims of WHO blunders in fighting HIV/AIDS and malaria...."

Scoop: E.sakazakii to become a Notifiable Disease
Tuesday, 5 April 2005, 12:33 pm
"A potentially fatal form of meningitis in premature babies linked to contaminated milk powder should be made a notifiable disease according to a report released today. The internationally peer reviewed report into Government agencies' response to infant formula contamination follows the death in July last year of a premature Waikato infant who died of meningitis. The death was caused by Enterobacter sakazakii sourced to powdered infant formula used in providing care for the baby.
Along with any notification of any instances of the disease, the report also recommends each notification be investigated and efforts made to trace and isolate the source of infection. In 2004 the Ministry and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority advised all neonatal intensive care units again..."

Baby - Premature: Lactation program increases rate of breastfeeding at Pregnancy & Baby
Lactation program increases rate of breastfeeding
Pregnancy and Baby
"A lactation program targeting mothers of very low birth weight babies (VLBWB) can be successful in raising the rate of breastfeeding among this group. Mother's milk is well documented to be the optimal source of nutrition for newborn babies; however, mothers of very low birth weight (VLBW) babies (those who weigh less than 1,500 grams -- approximately 3.3 pounds) are among the least likely groups to initiate and sustain lactation. Now, a study published in the Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing shows that a lactation program targeting mothers of very low birth weight babies (VLBWB) can be successful in raising the rate of breastfeeding among this group. The Mother's Milk Club at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is a lactation program that helps mothers whose children are cared for in the Rush neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). All mothers have access to the support and educational components in the program, and special services have been implemented to address the unique needs of low-income women with VLBW infants. Additionally, the women are invited to return to weekly luncheon meetings for continued lactation assistance after they are discharged from the hospital..."

Growth factor in baby formula could reduce necrotizing enterocolitis, most devastating GI disease in preemies:
Growth factor in baby formula could reduce necrotizing enterocolitis, most devastating GI disease in preemies
03 Apr 2005
Medical News Today
"Could it be that the most widespread and devastating gastrointestinal disease affecting premature babies could be conquered simply by adding a common polypeptide, epidermal growth factor (EGF), to infant formula? And if so, exactly how does it work, and why? Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) affects some 10,000 infants annually in the U.S., and over 90% are formula-fed before onset of NEC. At greatest risk are small, premature infants, and infants fed concentrated formulas. Estimates of mortality vary widely, up to 40%. International rates of incidence and mortality are thought to be similar. Although there is no effective treatment, the incidence of NEC among formula-fed babies is estimated at six to 10 times higher than breast-fed babies, indicating important direct benefits of mother's milk..."

Daily Times - Site Edition
Woman breastfeeding tiger cubs in Myanmar
"A lactating woman in Myanmar has volunteered to breastfeed a pair of endangered Bengal tiger cubs recently born at a Yangon zoo and separated from their aggressive mother, the Myanmar Times reported.
The two week-old cubs, a male and a female, were taken from their mother Noah Noah after she killed the third cub in her litter, prompting veterinarians to engage in alternative childcare, the semi-official weekly reported in its edition to be published. Hla Htay, 40, a relative of a Yangon Zoological Gardens staffer and a mother of three including a seven-month-old baby, stepped in when she learned the cubs needed breast milk to survive. “I felt sorry for them so I decided to feed them before their teeth grow,” she told the newspaper..."

KLTV 7 Tyler-Longview-Jacksonville, TX: Baby formula among growing criminal cargo traveling by interstate
"CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Officers expect to find marijuana or cocaine being smuggled over interstate highways. But increasingly they are finding an unexpected illegal cargo: stolen baby formula. Federal agents say the profits from this trade are funding organized crime. In some cases, the operations are suspected of supporting terrorist groups..."