Deaths in first world countries:
for starters, check the rates of NEC, which was accepted not so long ago as
being reasonable at 5-7% of all pre-term infants. Of those 5% of all
pre-term infants, not so long ago it was accepted that perhaps 20% or 1/5
would die. In short, 1% of all pre-term babies in teh US were dying of NEC.
And how rare is death due to NEC in breastfed infants? risk is up to 10
times greater depending on gestational age.

In my view, the fact that we've reduced NEC rates since then, especially in
units such as one here in Melbourne where fewer than 7% of all babies don't
get some mothers' milk, doesn't excuse the culpable infanticide we
practised in many hospital nurseries. We could have known that many small
sick  babies would die if not given breastmilk, and we could have given it
to them. As in Scandinavian countries, where experts were puzzled by rates
of 5% when theirs were around .05%. I wonder how soon a NEC survivor whose
life has been made a misery by some short gut syndrome will decide to sue
the institution which fed him formula instead of breastmilk?

Of course, then there are the diarrhoea and RSV deaths, the extra SIDS
deaths, the botulism deaths we know now are botulism and not SIDS because
the breastfed babies survived.... who'd like to add to the list? We won't
even do some of the studies we should, to look at the impact of feeding
problems on child abuse, for example...

Maureen Minchin, IBCLC. Christ Church Vicarage, 14 Acland St., St.Kilda,
Vic. 3182 Australia. tel/fax: 61 3 9537 2640
"Taking paths of least resistance is what makes rivers - and people -
crooked." poster in Palmerston North NZ bookshop...