I am looking for researched based literature to share with a doubting
pediatrician that breastmilk fed by bottle to a cleft palate baby (in this
case a Pierre Robin baby) may help prevent the glue ear infections so
commonly seen.   Common sense will not prevail here, I need research.   I
did a Medline search and found:

Pediatrics 1994 Dec;94(6 Pt 1):853-60 Evidence in infants with cleft palate
that breast milk protects against otitis media.  Paradise JL, Elster BA,
Tan L
Then a search of the Lactnet archives yielded:
Jane Bradshaw wrote of a  video called "Samuel:  Breastfed infants with
cleft lip and cleft
palate".  By Christa Herzog-Isler who also wrote the pamphlet "Give us a
little time:  How babies with a cleft lip or cleft palate can be breastfed"

to quote Jane’s post:
“Christa tells of her retrospective study and her conclusions
about upper resp. infections and middle ear infections which were continuous
in the formula fed babies, GREATLY reduced in the breast milk fed babies,
and
there were NO middle ear infections in the babies who were actually
breastfed.  She surmises that the muscles of the palate are important in
opening and ventilating the "ear tubes" properly.”

I have the pamphlet and I see the study is mentioned.  Was that study
published in a peer-reviewed journal?  Does anyone know where I can get
it.  The pamphlet doesn’t have a bibliography.

And our dear Jack wrote:
“The antibodies in breastmilk line the mucosa of the respiratory tract and
prevent invasion and multiplication of possibly infectious bacteria, and
viruses. Cultures of the throats and noses of babies who are breastfed show
fewer cultures of non typable H. Influenza, probably still the most common
bacterial cause of ear infections, along with pneumococci, which are also
less found in the nasopharynx of the breastfed baby. Breastmilk fed babies
who have cleft palates, have fewer infections than formula fed babies who
have cleft palates, which suggests it is not just the bottle.”

But that is common sense and in short supply in my location.

There were many posts telling of babies with clefts who surprised their
HCPs by not getting ear infections while receiving breastmilk.  But that
doesn’t address the “give me numbers not anecdotes” argument I am getting.

Do you know of any other “evidence based” literature showing breastmilk in
a bottle prevents ear infections in cleft palate infants?

This Pediatrician is of course the same one who orders a baby in the 2 – 5
days of age range under lights for a bili of 12.5 and recommends water
supplementation to breastfeeding mothers of jaundiced babies.  It seems the
use evidence is a bit inconsistent but you know you have to keep on
trying!

Hopefully the one Pediatrics article will be enough to convince the
pediatrician but I’d love to have more.

Carla (thankful that it was in a medical journal)
In Maryland, where the demand for evidence doesn’t always translate to the
use of same.

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