Is anyone aware of research being done on the actual transmission rate of
HIV via breastmilk?  I am wondering if anything overseas is being done as
breastfeeding must be common in many third world nations.  I was told
that there is some evidence that vitamin A levels may have some effect on
transmission of HIV to breastfeeding babies but don't have a source.

Re names for breastfeeding: My children called it "nummies" though my 3rd
child used "titty" for awhile.  One night I was talking to my daughter
(2nd child and only girl) about babies and nursing. I happened to mention
that my mother never nursed me. She looked at me in surprise and asked
"Did your mother hate you?" She was still nursing at age 4.  When my 3rd
child was around 3 years old, I was going to school and tandem nursing
him and his brother.  We had a ritual each day of flopping on the sofa at
the end of each day to cuddle, nurse and relax.  That child is now 12 and
still occasionally talks about those nursing times -- about remembering
them and how nice they were. One day when I was cuddling this particular
child, he looked up at me with eyes full of love after nursing and said,
"Oh, Mom. You smell just like titties!"  I guess it all goes to show that
nursing is certainly more than a way of feeding and means much more than
food to our children.