Karen writes, "One of the mothers had food poisoning last year, in between
babies and pregnancies. However, in the spirit of ...what if...she wanted to
know if tainted food would pass through her milk to the baby.  ????.  We did
discuss feeding ebm until the "sickness" passed but I really would like to
know what you all think."

Depends on what is meant by "food poisoning", i e has the mother ingested a
toxic substance, or does the mother have a gastro-intestinal infection?
Assuming the latter, there is a fascinating piece in the Nov l988
Breastfeeding Review, pp l9 - 22 by L A Hanson et al called "Breastfeeding
protects against infections and allergy" which shows how the Peyer's patches
function. The relevant part of the text reads, ".. it has been shown in man
and in several animal models that immunisation via the gut, and also the
lungs, stimulates a special population of antibody-producing B lymphocytes.
They appear in large numbers in special aggregations in the gut - the
Peyer's patches.  These lymphocytes leave the gut after having met bacteria
and viruses there and move or "home" to exocrine glands such as the mammary,
lacrimal and salivary glands, as well as glands in the mucosal membranes of
the bronchi and the gut.  As a consequence, human milk contains sIgA
antibodies against all those bacteria and viruses which have been in the
mother's gut.  This gives the milk capacity to protect against those
microorganisms to which the infant is exposed, because they are usually the
same as those its mother has been in contact with."

Usually, by the time the mother realizes she has "food poisoning", the
infant has already been exposed. GI infections are usually self-limiting.
The very safest course is to *continue breastfeeding* while keeping mom well
hydrated and being careful about hand-washing etc. to reduce the baby's
exposure to the organism.  The baby should be seen by his/her doctor if s/he
"seems" sick in any way but IMHO withholding breastfeeding if anyone else in
the family has any kind of tummy bug is a very risky thing to do.  And if
the baby should by any mischance pick up the infection, he will recover
faster if he continues to be breastfed.

Pamela Morrison IBCLC, Zimbabwe
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