dear kathleen,

the mother should tell the doctor that if he knows of some other way to give
her child the extra IQ points and health protection, to please speak up and
share that info with us. . . meanwhile, wouldn't it be best if on the days
that the baby didn't nurse well, she could try an SNS with some of her milk
pumped and mixed to be "high test" (mix skimmed fat to make milk richer). i
guess i am tired, i can't remember the actual word for doing this. i do
believe the milk bank here locally has done this, perhaps others have as well,
and maybe there is something written about it. i will attempt to find out
tomorrow. perhaps someone has experience doing this?

meanwhile, perhaps someone knows the particulars of the study showing
breastfeeding is easier, but it was not "just" a LLL study, although why not?

oh wait, here it is, or at least one study along these lines - "suck-breathe
patterning during bottle and breastfeeding for preterm infants," paula meier.
this is directed towards encouraging breastfeeding in preterm infants, because
it presents less physiological instability than bottle feeding; i would think
the results mentioned here would validate the mother's desire to breastfeed as
opposed to bottlefeeding, especially since her child has these health
problems.

i guess this is the place to throw in sacrificing bf on the altar of
ignorance, etc.

carol b.