Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | White gold: "White gold
Breast-milk banks save the lives of many tiny babies, says Jane Hutchinson - but we need more
Wednesday December 1, 2004
The Guardian
Camilla Kingdon has cause to celebrate. As a consultant on the neonatal intensive care unit at Guy's and St Thomas' in London, she has been instrumental in setting up the hospital's new human milk bank. Breast milk is particularly important for premature babies: it is much better tolerated than formula milk and contains vital antibodies that help them fight infections. But until now if a mother of a baby on the unit could not get her milk going - something fairly common after a traumatic early birth - there was no option but to put the baby on to formula unless breast milk could be shipped in from somewhere else in time. "
Friday, December 03, 2004
Saturday, November 27, 2004
WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Parents Say Hospital's Baby Formula Led To Daughter's Brain Damage
"(LOUISVILLE, November 5th, 2004) -- It seems as innocent as the mouths it is fed to: powdered infant baby formula. But WAVE 3 has uncovered evidence powdered formula could lead to serious health problems -- even death -- in some infants. One local family is now suing University of Louisville Hospital because of what happened to their daughter. WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack has the exclusive story. From the day she was born, Ashley Hill has been her mother's best friend. "I talk to her every day and I tell her how special she is," said her mom, Rhonda Smith. To her father, Bert Hill, Ashley is daddy's little girl. "I mean when she came out, we was in tears," he said. Ashley was born 9 weeks premature in December of 1999. She weighed just one pound, 13 ounces. But after two months in the neo-natal intensive care unit at University of Louisville Hospital, Rhonda Smith says her daughter went home in good condition. Her parents thought Ashley's struggles were over. But they were just beginning. Ashley, now four years old, may never walk, talk or feed herself. The result of severe brain damage caused by meningitis she got days after leaving the hospital. Her parents blame University Hospital for what happened. "They robbed her of her life," Rhonda Smith said. A baby gift pack given to them by the hospital contained powdered baby formula. "She was on the powdered formula when she got sick," Smith said. Now, Attorney Nick Stein says there was clear cut evidence before Ashley was born, that bacteria in powdered formula can cause serious illness, including meningitis, in babies with weak immune systems..."
"(LOUISVILLE, November 5th, 2004) -- It seems as innocent as the mouths it is fed to: powdered infant baby formula. But WAVE 3 has uncovered evidence powdered formula could lead to serious health problems -- even death -- in some infants. One local family is now suing University of Louisville Hospital because of what happened to their daughter. WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack has the exclusive story. From the day she was born, Ashley Hill has been her mother's best friend. "I talk to her every day and I tell her how special she is," said her mom, Rhonda Smith. To her father, Bert Hill, Ashley is daddy's little girl. "I mean when she came out, we was in tears," he said. Ashley was born 9 weeks premature in December of 1999. She weighed just one pound, 13 ounces. But after two months in the neo-natal intensive care unit at University of Louisville Hospital, Rhonda Smith says her daughter went home in good condition. Her parents thought Ashley's struggles were over. But they were just beginning. Ashley, now four years old, may never walk, talk or feed herself. The result of severe brain damage caused by meningitis she got days after leaving the hospital. Her parents blame University Hospital for what happened. "They robbed her of her life," Rhonda Smith said. A baby gift pack given to them by the hospital contained powdered baby formula. "She was on the powdered formula when she got sick," Smith said. Now, Attorney Nick Stein says there was clear cut evidence before Ashley was born, that bacteria in powdered formula can cause serious illness, including meningitis, in babies with weak immune systems..."
Protective Role of Human Milk for Preemies Unclear
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Fri 26 November, 2004 17:27
By Megan Rauscher
"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Currently available research findings do not provide conclusive evidence that feeding very low birth weight (VLBW) premature babies human milk offers significant protection against infection. The belief that human milk feeding will help ward of infection in these vulnerable infants is one of the chief reasons for advocating the practice, clinicians from the UK note in the Archives of Diseases of Childhood Neonatal Edition. 'However, using human milk to feed premature babies is much more difficult than using a formula, so this practice needs to be evidence based,' Dr. S. Andrew Spencer from University Hospital of North Staffordshire, told Reuters Health."..."
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Fri 26 November, 2004 17:27
By Megan Rauscher
"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Currently available research findings do not provide conclusive evidence that feeding very low birth weight (VLBW) premature babies human milk offers significant protection against infection. The belief that human milk feeding will help ward of infection in these vulnerable infants is one of the chief reasons for advocating the practice, clinicians from the UK note in the Archives of Diseases of Childhood Neonatal Edition. 'However, using human milk to feed premature babies is much more difficult than using a formula, so this practice needs to be evidence based,' Dr. S. Andrew Spencer from University Hospital of North Staffordshire, told Reuters Health."..."
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Six-organ transplant a rare chance at life
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 25, 2004
"For the smallest babies, it often signals the beginning of a slow and painful death, one marked by increasingly desperate surgeries to remove dead tissue from their bowels. Until a few years ago, Natalia's story would have ended after her fifth surgery, when there was no more bowel left to remove, when her liver finally gave way...." [This is an interesting story - an infant's fight with pre-maturity and necrotizing enterocolitis. She received a multi-organ transplant and is being nourished by her mother's milk. The article includes a quote from the transplant surgeon who says human milk is the best option after transplant. - JC]
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 25, 2004
"For the smallest babies, it often signals the beginning of a slow and painful death, one marked by increasingly desperate surgeries to remove dead tissue from their bowels. Until a few years ago, Natalia's story would have ended after her fifth surgery, when there was no more bowel left to remove, when her liver finally gave way...." [This is an interesting story - an infant's fight with pre-maturity and necrotizing enterocolitis. She received a multi-organ transplant and is being nourished by her mother's milk. The article includes a quote from the transplant surgeon who says human milk is the best option after transplant. - JC]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)