I feel I must clarify several things. (I'll say I'm sorry for it's length up
front)

Those were not articles on Lactose Intolerance.  They were articles showing
that the total amount of fat in a mother's milk CAN NOT be changed but the
quality of fat available for milk synthesis can be augmented in the diet.  I
did not say that it is a problem of lactose intolerance but POSSIBLY a
problem more like that of lactose overload.  (There is only so much lactase
in the infant gut to handle milk sugar. Correct. Why wouldn't the excess
lactose ferment and cause some of the baby's symptoms) I have always
believed that lactose intolerance in an infant is incompatable with life and
therefore isn't very common.

<< much of the research on EFA deserves a highly critical eye due to the
fact that the vast majority of that research is funded by those who want all
of us to be supplemented from cradle to grave with DHA>>

I deeply resent any implication that I have somehow been influenced by the
ABM industry.

I started using EFA's as supplement following research on fish oil and PPD.
Moms with cranky fussy babies do tend to have some PPD.  I was already
supplementing women with low milk supplies with EFA's.  Those women began
reporting a change in the appearance of the milk and much more settled
babies.  Adding EFA's to a group of women with unsettled babies seemed to be
the next logical step and it is working.  I don't know why it works I can
only extrapolate from the current research.

I am a clinician,  not a researcher, but I can count and I can see trends.
My expertise is in Oversupply.  I have honed the treatment for OSS following
years of practice.  During my time at Kaiser, Riverside we had nearly 2000
records covering a little over a 10-year period, all related to oversupply.
When became ill in 1999 and had to retire from clinical practice, those
assessment, treatment, and follow-up forms were destroyed because the
retrospective chart review (my study) was no longer active.  Since then,
though my internet contacts, I have 354 contacts with approx 190 who did not
respond to initial treatment and required additional treatment
recommendations before mom and baby were in homeostasis.  I began using
EFA's on moms with babies who did not respond to simple feed management.  I
also want to point out that prior to 3 weeks of age,  I do not begin
anything more than teaching the mom to watch the baby, cue fee,  correct
latch-on problems if they exist, and prevention of engorgement that could
endanger her active lactating tissue.  Nor do I "diagnose" or treat by
telephone.

My initial post was misread.  I never said that the problem was lactose
intolerance.  I did not relate anything regarding the extensive assessment I
make in these cases, how I have been able to isolate three distinct phases,
or how I rule out other common problems such as allergy, or how I come to
recommend a particular treatment modality for a particular mother baby pair.
Nor did I mention that in many cases there are problems concomitant with the
OSS (thrush, GER, vomiting, persistent sore nipples, bloody stools etc...)
_ the use of EFA's is only one point of a multi faceted approach to the
problems that both mother and baby have.  Moreover, I agree absolutely
nutrition should be coming from whole foodstuffs, not a pill.  However,
mothers often choose pills instead.

What I did say was:

1. Watch your language, your termonology. What we say to a mother is
powerful and can undermine her confidence in her ability to make the best
milk for her baby on a very basic psychological level.

2. Please stop calling it "block feeding,"    hyperactive letdown," and
"foremilk hindmilk imbalance"  BECAUSE moms are taking those terms to
illogical conclusions.  Moms are going beyond simple "block feeding"

3. Don't recommend the use of one breast for longer than a 3-4 hour period
(6 maybe in extreme cases)

4. Base what you do on physiology not the current hot trend

5. Look at the complete clinical picture

6. If you, as an LC, must make an alternation in feeding patterns, provide
for follow-up

7. Some of the feeding positions moms are using are resulting in recurrent
plugs and mastitis
8.  Moms are taking what we say and coming up with their own ideas on how
they should proceed and they are sabotaging their breastfeeding and milk
supplies.



Susan doesn't like that I picked "Oversupply Syndrome" as a title.  I did
that based on the group of symptoms I consistently see in momm and baby. WHY
SYNDROME?  The word "syndrome" is defined as:  a group of things or events
that form a recognizable pattern, especially of something undesirable.  It
just seemed to fit.

Why is a label important?  BECAUSE we cannot research a thing until we all
agree on what to research.  I am suggesting that we start with a different
title that is general verses specific (or as you put it the lack of a
label). At least there would be an umbrella under which symptoms can be
listed and researched.  Without the research, it is hopeless.

If anyone wants to pick me apart, could you please do it off Lactnet?  If
you have an "ax to grind" let's not do it in such a public forum.

Marie Davis RN IBCLC

PS I am willing to share my findings.  I want to publish on these things but
I am not well enough to do it on my own.  I would accept a co-author or even
someone else who is doing research in this area. Contact me.

www.lactationconsultant.info

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