Dear Lacnet

Pardon my transatlantic ignorance, but why on earth would anyone need to
know the fat content of a mother's breast milk. I'm bursting with questions
about it....(deep breath)...with which norm would any sample be compared?
Knowing as we do that breast milk differs from minute to minute, drop to
drop,  feed to feed, day to day, week to week, from baby to baby, from
mother to mother, what would be the point of taking one sample and not
(say) a week's worth? How do we know the milk that's expressed  is
identical to the milk the baby takes at the next (unexpressed, untested)
feed?  Then suppose the milk tested comes up as 'too fatty' or 'not fatty
enough'? Do we then say the baby needs ABM...or the mum needs more fat in
her diet...or what? It seems to me that breastfeeding supporters should
resist any attempts to subject an individual's breast milk to these
unfounded tests. The mindset should be challenged - do others agree?

all the best

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, UK