Hi, Judy Holtzer Knopf and everyone. I suspect the mother would be dead before her baby picked up botulism via the full route you were concerned about, Judy. If it were to infect the mother's blood, I'd expect fairly catstrophic results for her. The other question you seem to be raising is whether or not bacteria will be able to find their way across the cell membranes in the breast's alveoli from the blood into the milk. Probably only if the cell walls were damaged, and then only if there were a local infection or a large enough build up of bacteria in the mother's blood, like septicaemia.(Septicaemia caused by a Clostridium bacteria of any kind sounds fatal to me.) Small numbers of prospective infective agents like bacteria will be "mopped up" by the leucocytes in the blood, so would not be available to cause infection (or be available to travel through cell walls into breast alveoli). Arly raises another worrying thought - with the mother who develops botulism while breastfeeding. Our Cecil's reference says that C. botulinum toxin is THE most toxic of all toxins. In other words, a minute amount may cause symptoms of poisoning. Most toxins that I've asked our poisons information people about seem to be readily secreted into breast milk. Does this mean that even before the mother realizes she is ill, there may be enough of the toxin in her milk to cause problems for her baby? What if she has fed her baby after she has started to have symptoms? This is difficult to find information about - one of the more abstruse areas of research interest! I've had cause to ask these questions in the Australian context because we have 9 of the 10 most poisonous snakes in the world, the only 2 spiders capable of killing humans with their poisonous bites, the only poisonous octopus and numerous marine stingers (more killers)! As others have said, why do it anyway. (Honey on nipples, that is!) Not to mention the fun that Candida would have with such a good medium for its growth when so many mothers have the tiresome prospect of treating for nipple thrush and baby's oral thrush anyway. Any other takers on the above possibilities? Robyn Noble (ex Bug Grower/Medical Scientist)IBCLC and Anne Bovey (Speech Therapist), Brisbane, Australia PS Judy, give yourself a pat on the back for managing to stay reasonably diplomatic in the face of great provocation! It's hard to keep at it when you are the proverbial lone voice in the wilderness.