I have been thinking about the posts on genetically-modified foods and the
ones in the past about older breastfed babies who poop less often than once
a day.

I am especially interested in research because I co-wrote a book on the
research about pregnancy and childbirth. I learned through that process how
many of the interventions that were created with the best of intentions
ended up causing more harm than good. Doctors used logic and personal
experience to create what they thought was a good treatment, but it took
larger-scale, more randomized studies to show that it wasn't.

I can give lots of examples but fetal monitors are a good one. It seemed
intuitively obvious to many doctors that knowing what the baby's heartrate
was at all times should improve the outcome - it would give them the info
they needed to decide if the baby was in distress. But - and this has been
VERY extensively researched by now - it didn't. Fetal monitoring leads to
more C-sections and more morbidity, and does not improve the outcome for the
baby.

I think it is very important and valuable to question any interventions in
health care and in our food supply. An attitude of scepticism is probably a
good thing. It's no good to believe these things could be safe or even
beneficial, we need research to show they are.

But I would apply the same logic to the infrequently-pooping older baby. If
the baby is breastfed, happy, gaining well and seems healthy in all other
ways, I would be reluctant to intervene. I understand that some feel the
baby will have problems down the road, but I would want to see research that
demonstrates that before I began recommending to mothers that they try some
interventions.

We know that in human beings there are many variations that are still
normal. Labour can last for less than an hour, or for several days, without
either extreme being harmful or dangerous. Perhaps the same is true for
breastfed babies and their bowel movements.

I think it is very valuable and important to discuss questions, potential
research projects, new information, etc., on Lactnet. I think we should also
be careful not to jump quickly to conclusions.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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