-On Sunday 17 September, Karen Page writes: >Co-sleeping... This was the only way I could keep on going . I understand the SIDS phamplets do not support the co -sleeping position but it >is the only thing, I think that got me thru my nursing days. Karen -- Could you please explain this comment? Is this pamphlet put out by the U.S. Navy? There is a *lot* of evidence that co-sleeping protects babies from SIDS. I am concerned if the U.S. Navy is producing a pamphlet that contradicts recent research and even suggests that co-sleeping is a risk factor for SIDS, as this is not true. Please explain. Re: spina bifida. The term spina bifida refers to any opening of the bony part of the vertebral column that normally encloses and protects the spinal cord. There is huge variation in the seriousness of the condition, and therefore the proper treatment. Many infants have surgery almost immediately after birth, and many many people with spina bifida are able to walk unaided (some limp). The key factors are how high the defect is, the amount of damage to the spinal cord before and during birth, and the extent of the defect itself -- sometimes the bone is missing but the spinal cord does not protrude and there is no opening (i.e., skin covers the defect), ranging all the way to the interior of the spinal cord compartment being open to the outside and protruding out of the body. Until this baby is actually born, it will be very difficult to predict the feasibility of various nursing positions or the amount of time before the baby can be picked up and held. You have to protect any protruding spinal cord from injury until surgery can provide protection. Certainly the baby could receive expressed breast milk by bottle, cup, or tube -- any route that ABM can go into baby. Also, if the mother is dedicated, has supportive pediatricians, and a willing baby, I bet that she could figure out a way to get her nipple into the baby's mouth even though the baby must lay flat. The baby has to turn its head to one side or the other, and I am picturing the baby laying on a hard flat surface and the mother laying on a gurney next to the baby, head to foot as it were, with the baby's head at the level of the mother's chest, and being able to maneuver her breast within the reach of the baby's mouth. I have myself nursed in a number of odd positions -- like facing backwards in the car leaning over the baby in the car seat. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D. email: [log in to unmask] Anthropology Department phone: (409) 845-5256 Texas A&M University fax: (409) 845-4070 College Station, TX 77843-4352