On 04/02/2005, at 6:58, Chris Betzold wrote:

> The New policy statement by the AAP (
> www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/115/2/496 )is authored by Lawrence 
> Gartner and Dr. Eidelman. Kudos to them and
> all the other authors for a very well written with very specific
> recommendations.

Overall a substantial improvement. I was especially happy to see: 
"Mother and infant should sleep in proximity to each other to 
facilitate breastfeeding."! Is this a first from a prominent Western 
medical organisation? I was also very happy to see attention paid to 
the wider societal and cultural factors influencing breastfeeding, 
including insurance, media, education, employment, legal/custody issues 
and adoptive breastfeeding.

I would nitpick a couple of areas, though.

1. It's in serious need of a Weissinger overhaul. Having opened with:

> "Exclusive breastfeeding is the reference or normative model against 
> which all alternative feeding methods must be measured..."

the paper then goes on to talk about the "decreased incidence", 
"decreased rates", and "health benefits" to breastfeeding dyads, and 
the "optimality" of breastfeeding.

2.
> " Breastfeeding mothers should avoid the use of alcoholic beverages, 
> because alcohol is concentrated in breast milk and its use can inhibit 
> milk production. An occasional celebratory single, small alcoholic 
> drink is acceptable, but breastfeeding should be avoided for 2 hours 
> after the drink."

Where is the evidence that ethanol is _concentrated_ in breastmilk? I 
have always been taught that levels in milk are the same as in blood 
(i.e. negligible, unless mother is moderately to severely intoxicated).

3. They're still wavering uncertainly around the optimal length of the 
exclusive breastfeeding period.

Lara

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html