Valerie asks: If we believe that human milk is the gold standard, what is the basis for belief in human milk fortifiers and lactoengineering of human milk? Is it human milk is the gold standard only in the full-term and/or healthy infant? How do we rationalize this need to change this precious liquid into something science believes must be better for the compromised infant? I fully agree that we need good evidence before "messing with mother nature". However, in the case of very early babies (sometimes referred to as micropreemies) we are already changing the natural state of things. The natural state would be for these babies to die! We know that human milk changes for the early baby, but it does make sense for this to apply for the babies who have a chance to live without intervention. With technology, many babies survive who would never have had a chance not many years ago. I've been working in OB for less than 20 years (much longer with nursing moms) and have seen the survival rate and lowest viable gestational age change tremendously. Not long ago, anything less than 27 weeks was considered to be fatal. Now babies several weeks earlier are being saved. We had on that was, I believe, about 24-25 weeks and only 10 ounces that survided! As another poster indicated - technology changes faster than human evolution (or adaptation or whatever term you prefer). Therefore, it does make sense that these babies who are surving artificially may need some intervention with their natural diet. There may not be such a thing as a "natural" diet for babies who are not surviving "naturally". Yes, it is an area that is experimental. However, since the situation is already "experimental" in a way, it doesn't make sense to take a "hands off" approach until interventions are fully proven. To not intervene is an intervention in a way if it reduces the chance of survival once an early baby has been born. Winnie *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html