Breast milk is best bet for baby
"With this issue, Dr. Roxanne M. Allegretti begins a monthly column for Healthy Living.
I FIRST CAME to Fredericksburg with my family on a house-hunting trip in 2000, when my oldest daughter was 10 months old. We were preparing to move from California, because of my husband's transfer to Quantico.
Being a long-time California resident, I was already a bit nervous about how my attitudes and beliefs might fit in here. One night, while eating a delicious dinner at the Riverview in downtown Fredericksburg, my daughter needed to nurse a bit. I felt we accomplished it discreetly, but a woman at the next table stood up and said, "That's disgusting. That baby has teeth."
None of the great comebacks that I thought of later came to me at that moment. I was dumbstruck that someone would criticize me for feeding my baby the best food there is, and for doing what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for all infants. Now, I'm nursing my second baby, and I still find it interesting how people react to this most natural act." [This is the first of a series of columns on health by a pediatrician and it's terrific that she chose to talk about breastfeeding. As is often the case, the articlecould benefit from language that warns of the harm from not breastfeeding. I've forwarded her a copy of Diane Weissinger's Watch Your Language from the Journal of Human Lactation, Volume 12, Number 1, 1996. - JC]
Sunday, February 09, 2003
Saturday, February 08, 2003
Move to curb soy formula milk sales
James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday February 8, 2003
The Guardian
"The safety of soya-based infant formula milk has been called into question by the government's scientific advisers, in a move that could result in it being available only on prescription.
They fear children's sexual development and fertility as adults might be affected if they take the products during their first few months of life.
Parents of about one in 50 babies who are not breast fed give their offspring the soy formula, and removing it from general sale would leave vegan mothers and others who wish to avoid cow's milk with no alternative.
The advisers say there is "clear evidence" of potential risk from using the products and no evidence that the products confer any health benefit. There is no medical need for it either, they say, since other therapies could be prescribed for infants allergic to cow's milk protein.
Members of the scientific advisory committee on nutrition believe studies suggesting harmful effects on the sexual development of marmosets, and "extreme discomfort" in menstruation for women who had been fed soy formula years before, are cause for "significant concern".
The use of the soy formula is already officially discouraged by the government, and breast milk is regarded as giving far better nourishment than formula milk. But the latest warnings about safety go much further than previous ones...."
James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday February 8, 2003
The Guardian
"The safety of soya-based infant formula milk has been called into question by the government's scientific advisers, in a move that could result in it being available only on prescription.
They fear children's sexual development and fertility as adults might be affected if they take the products during their first few months of life.
Parents of about one in 50 babies who are not breast fed give their offspring the soy formula, and removing it from general sale would leave vegan mothers and others who wish to avoid cow's milk with no alternative.
The advisers say there is "clear evidence" of potential risk from using the products and no evidence that the products confer any health benefit. There is no medical need for it either, they say, since other therapies could be prescribed for infants allergic to cow's milk protein.
Members of the scientific advisory committee on nutrition believe studies suggesting harmful effects on the sexual development of marmosets, and "extreme discomfort" in menstruation for women who had been fed soy formula years before, are cause for "significant concern".
The use of the soy formula is already officially discouraged by the government, and breast milk is regarded as giving far better nourishment than formula milk. But the latest warnings about safety go much further than previous ones...."
Resolution encourages breast feeding
By ROBERT W. BLACK Associated Press
Hilltop Nationla Bank
Feb 08, 2003
"CHEYENNE -- A Senate committee on Friday endorsed a resolution recognizing the value of breast-feeding and encouraging "an important and basic act of nurture." House Joint Resolution 5 had earlier been passed 57-3 by the House." [I'm not sure what the resolution is going to accomplish, but it can't be a bad thing. i note some fo the testimony, reported thus: "
Michelle Swanson, a nursing mother from Cheyenne, spoke of her struggles visiting her father at the Wyoming State Penitentiary and the limitations placed on her in the visiting room.
On two visits she had to retire to the restroom to nurse her son, she said.
"There shouldn't be any reason that I would have to nurse my baby on the toilet seat," she said, calling it humiliating. Although prison staff have been more accommodating recently, she still has been treated "rudely and they were very reluctant to let me into another room." Glenda Skaggs, manager of maternal services at United Medical Center in Cheyenne, spoke of the problems she encountered after asking to put a breast-feeding educational video on the hospital's internal TV system. She was initially told that "it would be like pornography," before eventually being given permission." - JC]
By ROBERT W. BLACK Associated Press
Hilltop Nationla Bank
Feb 08, 2003
"CHEYENNE -- A Senate committee on Friday endorsed a resolution recognizing the value of breast-feeding and encouraging "an important and basic act of nurture." House Joint Resolution 5 had earlier been passed 57-3 by the House." [I'm not sure what the resolution is going to accomplish, but it can't be a bad thing. i note some fo the testimony, reported thus: "
Michelle Swanson, a nursing mother from Cheyenne, spoke of her struggles visiting her father at the Wyoming State Penitentiary and the limitations placed on her in the visiting room.
On two visits she had to retire to the restroom to nurse her son, she said.
"There shouldn't be any reason that I would have to nurse my baby on the toilet seat," she said, calling it humiliating. Although prison staff have been more accommodating recently, she still has been treated "rudely and they were very reluctant to let me into another room." Glenda Skaggs, manager of maternal services at United Medical Center in Cheyenne, spoke of the problems she encountered after asking to put a breast-feeding educational video on the hospital's internal TV system. She was initially told that "it would be like pornography," before eventually being given permission." - JC]
Herald Sun: Baby suffocates during breast feed [09feb03] Heraldsun.com,
09feb03
"A distraught mother has warned of the danger of falling asleep while breastfeeding after she accidentally suffocated her baby. Caroline Fuller, 22, dozed off while giving five-week-old Dylan an evening feed on the sofa, and awoke to find him lifeless in her arms. She could not revive him, and rushed him to hospital, where he later died. The tragedy happened last September, but only now has the mother of three felt able to talk publicly about her son's death. She said she only fell asleep while breastfeeding because she had been told by health visitors that it was normal and safe to do so. "I blame myself because I should have done what I thought was best, added Miss Fullerr. She said she had dozed off with Dylan, and when she woke up he was cold and blue. "I am sure that if I had not fallen asleep on the sofa, my son would be alive today." [This is a very brief news report and it's hard to say what message thsi woman is deliverying. Is she saying she wasn't given infromation about safe co-sleeping (sleeping with baby on a sofa or chair isn't considered safe)? The death of a baby is a terrible tragedy. - JC]
09feb03
"A distraught mother has warned of the danger of falling asleep while breastfeeding after she accidentally suffocated her baby. Caroline Fuller, 22, dozed off while giving five-week-old Dylan an evening feed on the sofa, and awoke to find him lifeless in her arms. She could not revive him, and rushed him to hospital, where he later died. The tragedy happened last September, but only now has the mother of three felt able to talk publicly about her son's death. She said she only fell asleep while breastfeeding because she had been told by health visitors that it was normal and safe to do so. "I blame myself because I should have done what I thought was best, added Miss Fullerr. She said she had dozed off with Dylan, and when she woke up he was cold and blue. "I am sure that if I had not fallen asleep on the sofa, my son would be alive today." [This is a very brief news report and it's hard to say what message thsi woman is deliverying. Is she saying she wasn't given infromation about safe co-sleeping (sleeping with baby on a sofa or chair isn't considered safe)? The death of a baby is a terrible tragedy. - JC]
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