>The woman who has been donating the milk recently came down with a cold.  Mom
>wants to know if this would be a concern to the baby.

A large part of the baby's protection from infection comes from his feeding
at his mother's breast, regardless of how the exposure comes.  It can come
from mother herself, from a family member, from being "out in the world"
or--in this case--from the milk of the other mother.

As Margie Forrest so clearly put it in a post she wrote on 10/6/98:

"Mom is in the grocery store.  Old lady comes up to coo at baby, sneezes on
mom
and baby.  Both are upset.  Mom nurses baby in the parking lot.  Germs from
baby's mouth go into the breast when baby nurses.  Breast begins manufacturing
antibodies to those germs.  Baby nurses at night, begins getting those
antibodies.  3 days later, mom has the cold, baby doesn't, due to the
diathelic immunity.

This works for germs baby picks up from daycare, from the floor, from teething
on the dog's paws (you get the idea)."

If you want to read the entire post, the subject line is Immunities.

And, at the same time, the healthy, exclusively-breastfed infant's gut
doesn't let the virus get through the barriers.

I tried to find the description of that intestinal protection in my files,
but I can't.  It was written recently and was very clearly described.
Maybe the person who posted it will send it again.

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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