I just watched an interesting, but depressing, Arts and Entertainment
network show called "The New Pioneers."  This one was about a NICU doctor
who has had great success saving babies' lives who had heart and/or lung
problems by putting them on a machine called ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane
oxygenation) -- basically a heart/lung bypass machine.  They talked about
how a child's chances of survival improved from less than 10% without the
machine to 80% with the machine.  Amazing technology, cool that babies lives
can be saved . . . .

However, there was no mention of breastfeeding, one scene of a baby getting
"special nutrients" through a catheter into a leg, one ECMO baby who dies of
"a severe intestinal infection unrelated to the ECMO procedure" (I assume
that was necrotizing enterocolitis, which might have been prevented with
breast milk), no mention of the moms pumping, and one scene at the end where
the older sister of a now-doing-well baby is shown holding him and giving
him a bottle while the surgeon crows "There, now you've learned how to feed
your baby brother!"  These babies need breast milk and breastfeeding, and
their sisters need to learn that babies are fed at their mother's breast!!!!

Kathy Dettwyler

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