I received info from another company - OmegaTech - a company marketing  DHA
enriched eggs. Yes, chicken eggs enriched with DHA!  Mary Van Elswyk, PhD,RD
sent me a letter to introduce her company and its product.  (They wanted to
have a booth at a local World Walk, but that's another story...and I refused.)
She sited an article that discussed the possibility of DHA lacking in
breastmilk because the mother's stores are lowered by the demands of each
subsequent pregnancy. (Relation Between Birth Order and the Maternal and
Neonatal Docosahexaenoic Acid Status, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
(1997) 51,548-553)  Thus the need for her product. She writes:  "While
breastfeeding certainly supplies an infant with more DHA than any other
available source, the DHA content of mother's milk can be influenced by
seceral variables.  The article titled Relation between birth order and the
maternal and neonatal docosahexaenoic acid status (1997), indicates that
because of the demand for DHA, created by each pregnancy, a mother's DHA
stores may be sequentially lowered by multiple pregnancies, making less DHA
available for mobilization into the maternal blood, and therefore, to the
fetus.  Out of the 39 fatty acids studied in this experiment only DHA was
significantly correlated with gravid number.  These data indicate that efforts
should be made before,during and after pregnancy to sustain a steady supply of
DHA to maintain maternal blood and mother's milk composition."
She also included an article that found DHA in the maternal diet to have a
"strong, specific and dose-dependent effect on breast milk DHA." (Effect of
Maternal Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Supplementation on Breast Milk
Composition, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1996) 50, 352-357)

But, always the skeptic, ESPECIALLY when it comes to these companies....I
guess I'm wondering if we have a legitimate need?  Do breastfeeding mothers
really need this supplement?  BTW, I do have copies of these articles, so feel
free to email me privately if you'd like a copy.

Kari Miller, LLL CO/WY
[log in to unmask]
You should see the aspen turning!