Hi, Gena. Time to grab the oxygen mask and don the soapbox. I
don't remember the post you referred to about ADD/ADHD and infant
feeding method, but I have my own pet prejudice. Which is:
prenatal interventions (a la OB U/S) and especially intrapartum
meddling (supine labor, analgesics like demerol, anesthetics like
epidural, NPO, etc. etc. ETC) may compromise the fetal brain and
cause a higher incidence of what used to be called MBD (minimal
brain dysfunction, covering learning disabilities, ADD, etc.).
MBD has always been there, around 10% or so of the general
population (please correct me if I'm wrong, fellas), but I would
be very surprised if it wasn't considerably more now in
populations that won't leave pregnant women ALONE already! Not
alone alone - you know what I mean! (See how this thin air addles
one's brain?) I also remember reading/hearing somewhere how
important it was to a fetus's nervous system to be born
vaginally, and that he was at a CNS disadvantage if born by C/S
(and look at how high the C/S rate is in some places!). And
nobody can talk me out of breastfeeding being one of life's first
learning experiences...... Am I the only Cassandra who fears that
the breastfeeding difficulties we all see may be an early marker
for MBD?
I can't for the life of me see the argument for "demand" feeding
causing MBD (maybe the oxygen mask is defective?)
Off the soapbox. Judy Knopf in Israel  [log in to unmask]