Today I heard from two of our NICU fellows that they were given a talk by the Meade-Johnson rep on the new formulas. While this is second hand it is very reliable. The rep stated that the new Lipil formula was superior to breastmilk due to the greater quantity of DHA/RHA that the formula has. Her analogy was that just like sunscreen the higher the active ingredient the better! Then she went on to say that western women had diets that were deficient in DHA/RHA and therefore formula was again superior for the infants of these mothers! One of the fellows is currently pregnant with her second child, nursed her first for over one year. She was appalled at the presentation and e-mailed the program director who essentially said, oh well, who else would they get free food from for the talks! This fellow is now presenting a lecture at the end of the week on breastmilk and breastfeeding, omitting another talk for this one that she felt was far more important. I can't believe how blantant these reps are with misinformation and how those in higher up positions just look the other way.

As for Gerber, we have seen their products. I make a point of seeing the reps as I want to be up to date with what is out there for our moms. The products are not ones that I would recommend. They have the "gel" pads that they will not disclose the ingredients of. They fall apart at a mere touch and leave particles on the mom's breast, easy for the baby to ingest. I believe that they are only good for use for no more than four hours, if that. They have a "chapstick" like applicator for a nipple balm, the first ingredient being petroleum, others are nut oils. The breast pads are nothing new. The hot/cold pack is the only thing that I feel a mom could safely use. No, I don't think that they are supportive of breastfeeding. Be careful, we found that there were some samples of the nipple gel pads in commercial gift packs that were being given out on our post-partum floor. We are taking them out due to safety concerns.

There was a recent article in Neonatal Network, a journal for NICU nurses addressing bone health in infants. While I haven't fully read the article , one of the recommendations is for the pre-term infants going home to have a paste made of HMF and a small amount of breastmilk. This is given to the baby as a supplement. Has anyone heard of this or is anyone doing this currently?

Lisa Enger RN BSN IBCLC
Boston, MA

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