Hi Cheryl, Cant help with a reference (I'm at my day job!) but I do know
here in NZ I have heard a number of anecdotal accounts (and I think there is
a research base) of  "heart" babies blood oxygen saturations being markedly
higher after breastfeeding compared to alternative feeding methods - by
breastfeeding here I mean nursing at the breast as opposed to breastmilk by
other means. The pediatric team at our national unit theorise it is a
combination of an easier feeding method (particularly cf bottles) and the
nurturing minimises/reduces stress. A local leader's first baby had
extremely serious defects that required several major surgeries in his first
18 months and she tells some wonderful stories of nursing him when he was
critical and his condition improving dramatically on the monitors literally
within seconds. And I have heard it from others. Perhaps something else to
consider here.


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