Susan: From Ruth Lawrence's "Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical
Profession" (p. 208): "The risk of CMV infection and/or serious
consequences to the infant of a lactating woman with CMV in her milk is
negligible because the milk also contains appropriate antibodies that
protect the infant. The risk of milk containing CMV is for a donor
recipient such as a premature or other high-risk infant who receives some
virus but not a daily dose of antibodies from random feeding.." and on
p. 485: "The newborn infant may be exposed to the virus at a time when he
has received the passive transfer of antibodies from this mother. The
lack of infection in the neonatal period may well be due to this passive
and active transfer protection. These data provide evidence that infected
mothers who are seropositive can breastfeed their infants safely."
Hope this helps, Alicia Dermer, MD, IBCLC.