Dear Heather,

Sorry this is so late. No time to read Lactnet lately. I can't imagine what the problem would be here.  I am assuming that the mother is producing an antibody to the C antigen (actually there are two antigens, big C and little c) and the doctors are concerned that the antibody in the blood in the breastmilk will somehow get into the baby and attack the baby's red blood cells.  (BTW, if she is not producing antibody, I can't begin to imagine what they think the problem would be.)  A similar question was asked quite a while ago concerning anti-D (Rh) antibodies in the milk of a mother possibly causing an ongoing reaction in her D-positive baby.  The upshot of the research into that question was that significant amounts of the IgG antibody would not be present in the milk and that what was there would most certainly be destroyed in the baby's gut after ingestion.  While there is a mechanism in humans for transporting IgG across the placenta, there is not a similar mechanism for transport across the gut for this particular type of immunoglobulin.

Interestingly, for many animals, including rats and horses, the opposite is true.  The maternal antibodies are not transported across the placenta, but are transported (via the milk) very readily through the gut during the first 24-48 hours after birth.  These animals must get a good dose of colostrum during that little window of time or they are left with no immunities and face almost certain death.

Hope this helps.

Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
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