>When we are talking about this kind of thing can we bear in mind Mike
>Woolridge's research with malnourished mothers in Papua New Guinea.  Mike
>explained that although the extra supplements given to the malnourished mother
>made no difference to her milk, quantity or quality, or the weight and size of
>the baby, it did make her periods return quicker and so the natural spacing
>between children was shortened, so placing extra pressure on an already over
>stretched ecosystem.

Interesting, Sue. I also remember something about this topic from one
of ?Peter Hartmann's talks that some of the older research found that
improving the mothers' nutrition with supplements improved their milk
supplies *but* when they looked more closely, the reason was because
the babies were having more feeds per day. The mothers were spending
less time out getting their food and working in the fields, etc, and
had more time to spend with their babies while they were receiving
handouts from the researchers! Gotta be careful in the interpretation
of research results!
******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

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