From Diane Benisek, research dietitian, Martek

On 11/7/98 a posting stated "Vegetarians (specifically vegans) have the
highest DHA levels in breastmilk-probably from a diet much higher in EFA's
from nuts and seeds and oils."

Do you have a reference for this? Please post it.

My literature search indicates the exact opposite.  Vegetarians (specifically
vegans) have the lowest DHA levels in breastmilk. Only when fish is added to
the vegetarian diet (are they still vegetarian?) does the breastmilk DHA level
improve.
Sanders (1992) The influence of a vegetarian diet on the fatty acid
composition of human milk and the essential fatty acid status of the infant. J
Pediatr 120:S71-S77
Finley (1985) Breast milk composition: fat content and fatty acid composition
in vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Am J Clin Nutr 41:787-800.
Specker (1987) Differences in fatty acid composition of human milk in
vegetarian and nonvegetarian women: Long-term effect of diet. J Pediatr
Gastroenterol Nutr 6: 764-768.

Also posted 11/7/98  regarding eating eggs to enhance breastmilk DHA "Never
mind that if a mother would eat several eggs a week, she could do the same
thing at a fraction of the cost!"

From the 1998 USDA nutrient composition tables: 1 large whole egg contains
19mg DHA (all of it in the yolk); 3 oz of canned tuna contains 530mg DHA. You
have to eat a lot more than several eggs a week to get any significant DHA in
your diet.  There is no RDA or RDI for DHA but health professionals recommend
2-3 servings of fish per week.

Some fatty acid background to consider when reading the DHA Formula
Supplementation article in November Pediatrics.  One of the DHA formulas used
eggs as the source of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, providing
DHA in the form of phospholipid.  The DHA in breastmilk is almost exclusively
in triglyceride form, with only trace amounts of DHA as phospholipid.  Maybe
there is a reason that women make breastmilk DHA as triglyceride if there is
no benefit in feeding infants DHA as phospholipid. The other DHA formula used
fish oil, which includes other fatty acids, such as EPA, that appear in
breastmilk in only small amounts. Feeding babies EPA in formula may not be a
good thing. Carlson SE (1994) Lessons learned from randomizing infants to
marine oil-supplemented formulas in nutrition trials. J Pediatr 125:S33-S38.
Seems the sponsor has to re-learn this lesson every few years.