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Date: | Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:58:17 -0700 |
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Hi Phyllis
I am guessing that the key to the conundrum you pose (on the various
opinions or studies about infant mortality that appear not to support
exclusive breastfeeding as the key to infant health) is that there are many
reasons why infants die. Pre-conception and pregnancy nutrition of the
mother, violence or stress in the home, quality of care during pregnancy and
labour, cleanliness with instruments during and after delivery, substance
abuse, congenital issues, access to postnatal care for mother and baby...
So babies can die within the first month of life for many reasons other than
nutrition, and those areas are where primary health changes can make a
difference.
There is no way to reduce perinatal deaths to zero, though we are obviously
doing better these days. Gosh, I think read this week that even USA has
come up from 45th in the world to 41st in infant mortality rates listings
(gentle sly dig, and totally glass-house-ish since my country is one of the
few where infant mortality rates have worsened since the Millennium Goals
were set).
I don't think the authors of the studies meant to imply that bf has little
value, though it almost appears that way as you outline it. I'm sorry, my
comment might differ if I was able to access my copy of Riordan and
Wambach's book, so I'm interested to hear other comments.
Best wishes
Jacquie Nutt IBCLC
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