For Yanet Olivares:

Breastfeeding cannot guarantee that children won't grow up to get cancer.
There are many variables involved, including family history and genetics,
environment, life style, etc.  But some studies show an increased rate of
certain cancers in children and adults who were fed artificial baby milk
over children who were breastfed.  Among these are:

Davis, M., D. Savitz and B. Graubard.  "Infant Feeding and Childhood
Cancer," The Lancet, Vol. II, no. 8607:365-368, 13 August 1988.

Freudenheim, J., R. Marshall, S. Graham et. al. "Exposure to Breastmilk in
Infancy and the Risk of Breast Cancer," Epidemiology, Vol. 5, no.
3:324-331, 1994.

My own feeling is that if studies looked at exclusive breastfeeding in the
first 4-6 months vs exclusive feeding of artificial baby milk, the outcomes
would be far more obvious and dramatic. Too often the "breastfed" group
includes many different degrees of breastfeeding mixed with artificial
feeding.  Let's hope that more definitive studies will be done in the
future, perhaps using Miriam Labbok's schema for definition of
breastfeeding. (This is contained in LLL's CERP booklet from the July 1995
International Conference, p. 151, or write to the Institute for
Reproductive Health, Georgetown University, Dept. of Obstetrics &
Gynecology, 2115 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 6th floor, Washington, DC 20007).

These studies may help provide some comfort to this mother, but I would
guess that right now she most needs to be surrounded by loving friends and
family who can support her in her grieving.

Anne Altshuler, RN, MS, IBCLC and LLL Leader in Madison, WI