Dear Mother,

I'm really sweet on your magazine.  I read it cover to cover each month.
However, I'm not sweet on your recent article about healing with honey.
You printed  a glaring error in your March 1999 article about honey as a
home remedy for treating sore, cracked nipples..

On the first page of the article, there is a box discussing the risks of
babies ingesting honey and botulism, which is certainly appropriate.  Yet,
on the next page, there is a box describing easy honey uses, with a nursing
salve described as one home remedy.  Just a simple question here-who do you
think is going to be latched onto the breast of a lactating mother?
Nursing babies and toddlers, right?  Aren't they then at risk for ingesting
honey, which can cause botulism in young children?

My main concern is that there is so much misinformation about breastfeeding
in the media and even Mother Earth News is now propogating it!  If a
nursing mother has sore, cracked nipples, it is because her baby is
improperly latched onto the breast.  She needs someone who is skilled in
assisting women to breastfeed to observe and assist her as her baby nurses.
This could be a lactation consultant, La Leche League leader or even an
experienced nursing mother.

Slapping some honey-soaked gauze on her nipples is going to make the
situation worse by not solving the underlying problem, which is poor
latch-on.  Occasionally, we will prescribe ultra-pure lanolin for moist
wound healing when a woman's nipples are cracked, bleeding or blistered.
Usually, the only thing a mother needs on her sore cracked nipples is her
own milk, which has unique healing and anti-infective properties and will
not expose her child to botulism or something that tastes different from
mother's milk.  Bottom line, proper latch-on will correct this problem, not
honey!

So, what makes me qualified to tell Mother the real deal on treating knawed
nipples?  Well, I'm a nursing mother, a registered nurse, a certified
childbirth and breastfeeding educator, La Leche League member and a
dedicated Mother Earth News reader.

Thank you for a wonderful publication.  I hope Mother Earth News will
consider contributing information about one of nature's best
resources-breastfeeding.  Please spread the  word about breastfeeding-it's
free, healthy and it's nature's way of nourishing and nurturing human
babies.  And no honey!

Warm regards,

Maurenne Griese, RNC, BSN, CCE, CBE
Manhattan, KS  USA
785-539-7542