Hi, all

The Jackson Sun (Jackson, Tennessee) ran my letter to the editor on Sunday
in response to the stupid headline about "Nursing Bad for Babies After
Exercise"--thought y'all might be interested in seeing it! They left
breastfeeding as one word, and the only other change they made was to change
"gold" standard to "golden" standard. I could argue the point, but I won't! ;-D
*********

Tom Bohs
Editorial Page Editor
The Jackson Sun

Dear Mr. Bohs:

I had to comment on the brief article in yesterday's paper entitled "Nursing
after exercise can be bad for babies, research shows." While it is
interesting to note that IgA levels drop after exercise, making the immune
protection at that time less than what it would be before, this really isn't
a concern. Breastfeeding is not a one-shot deal, like a vaccination. It is
an on-going process. Chances are, the baby of a mom who is exercising is
going to nurse before her workout, and then after, too. And maybe even in
the middle of it! What might be lacking in that first after-exercise feeding
will be more than made up for in other feedings.

Immune protection continues as long as a baby (child) is breastfed, not just
for the first 6 months. As the amount of milk a nursling consumes decreases
(with the addition of solid food later on), the concentration of the immune
protective factors increases.  Thus a nursing toddler will continue to
benefit from his mother's fully mature immune system protection.

One other note, even the after-exercise milk, with its decreased IgA levels,
will still have more immune protection than any artificial formula. This is
one area that the commercial formulas will NEVER be able to match the gold
standard of infant feeding: breastfeeding.

Melissa Clark Vickers, IBCLC
(International Board Certified Lactation Consultant)
Huntingdon, TN


Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
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http://yourpregnancy.com/experts/panel/mcvickers.htm
Huntingdon, Tennessee