Annelies wrote:  >>> If the mother has already catched a particular disease,
how does her immunity pass to her milk?  The antibodies are actually in the
milk and what happens if a mother hasn't catched a disease before? How does
the immunity components come into her milk? <<<

Then Pat G. said, >>I read (before I kept record of such resources) that a
baby's saliva sends a message through the nipple (which is a two-way
conduit) that baby has been infected with a pathogen, and mother then makes
antibodies to the pathogen....I also read that this is how a mother's milk
is "programmed" ideally for
her baby throughout the breastfeeding experience...Maternal milk is always
changing to fit the needs of the infant...<<<

I too remembered having read this at one time and had thought it was Kathy
Dettwyler who talked about the fact that pathogens from the baby's saliva on
the breast can cause the mother to produce antibodies.  I posted a question
about it on a breastfeeding bulletin board and Kathy D. responded, terming
this the entero-mammary pathway.  She suggested reading Dr. Jack's article
in Scientific American about this phenomenon and it is (as Pat Young said)
online at Cindy's site - see http://users.erols.com/cindyrn/protect.htm .

Based on this wonderful process, I suggested to mothers who leave their
infants in the care of others after they return to work that it might be
helpful for them to nurse their babies while they are actually at the
caregivers.  This may increase the odds that their bodies will produce
breastmilk which contains antibodies that will protect their baby from
whatever pathogens are invading their particular caregiver's environment.
Does that make sense?

Sara Dodder Furr, MA, breastfeeding advocate and volunteer
Lincoln, Nebraska

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