Breast is not best for every situation
The Sunday Times - Ireland
October 03, 2004
Comment: Brenda Power:
"Joining a seemingly tireless campaign to convince women that breast milk is an even better thing than sliced bread, the Department of Health and Children wrote to 476 restaurants asking them to support a new breastfeeding initiative. By the time the launch of the scheme was announced to coincide with the start of National Breastfeeding Week last Thursday, less than a quarter of those restaurants had replied positively. Now the hospitality industry was not being asked to facilitate live lunchtime sex shows on the premises of restaurants and cafes — it was simply being asked to adopt a policy of welcoming and assisting women who wanted to nurse their babies while they dined out. Just 105 of the premises approached are now backing the scheme...."

Missoulian: Despite toxins found during study, woman says don't give up on breast milk
By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian
"When Heather Latino, a Missoula attorney, agreed to participate last year in a study that would determine the amount of the toxic flame retardant known as PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in her breast milk, she knew the results wouldn't sway her decision to breast-feed her daughter, Gabriella. That's important, said Dori Gilels, who helped organize the Montana portion of the Pacific Northwest study...."

Breast milk helps sick kids

Royal City Record Now
By Christina Myers - Record Reporter
"Thirty years ago, a young child became very sick. He wasn't growing properly, was having gastrointestinal problems and couldn't eat or keep food down. Doctors at the then-B.C. Children's Hospital tried a number of interventions, but nothing worked. Finally, they decided to give the child breast milk - not from his own mother, since he was no longer an infant and her milk had long since stopped coming - but milk donated by another mother. The child began to thrive and and soon got better...."

Aidsmap | Short course AZT for breastfeeding mothers: warning of viral rebound when AZT stopped
Michael Carter, Monday, September 27, 2004
"The use of AZT (zidovudine, Retrovir) by mothers to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies lowers HIV viral load in breastmilk and reduces the risk of postnatal HIV transmission, according to a study published in the October 15th edition of The Journal of Infectious Diseases. However, the study also established that when women stop taking AZT prophylaxis there is a temporary burst in HIV replication in breast milk, increasing infant exposure to the virus and the risks of infection with HIV. Because of this fidning the investigators recommend that mothers should continue to take AZT prophylaxis as long as they breastfeed...."