>If the mother has already catched a particular disease, how does her
>immunity pass to her milk?
>
>and what happens if a mother hasn't catched a disease before? How does the
>immunity components come into her milk?

I read (before I kept record of such resources) that a baby's saliva sends
a message through the nipple (which is a two-way conduit) that baby has
been infected with a pathogen, and mother then makes antibodies to the
pathogen.

The study was done in Great Britain and was launched when it was discovered
that during an epidemic, mothers had antibodies to the infection when they
didn't have the infection themselves. And that these breastfed babies
recovered quickly.

I also read that this is how a mother's milk is "programmed" ideally for
her baby throughout the breastfeeding experience, and the reason that a
baby at the breast doesn't have to continue to drink a greater and greater
volume of milk in order to receive her required nutrients. Maternal milk is
always changing to fit the needs of the infant.

I'm sure that this information came to me through LLLI because that was my
source of education before the late 1980's. So, perhaps some of you know
about the references for the study.

I have thought it would be a good idea for such a study to be repeated for
the current HCPs who need current, peer-reviewed material before they will
believe that Nature works to protect babies who feed in a normal, human
manner.

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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