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Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 18 Sep 2001 09:32:51 +0100
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1542000/1542293.stm

This is the trial of parents of a nine-month-old girl,  who died as a
result of malnutrition. I first came across the story in the
newspapers at the weekend, and I have sought out several accounts of
it. Each version has something a little different, but the common
factors are that the parents fed the little girl on a fruitarian
diet. In one of the reports, it was stated the baby only ever had
breastmilk and fruit, and it was not stated whether the baby was
still bf when she died.

None of the colleagues I shared the story with could understand why
the baby would become so malnourished on a diet of breastmilk and
fruit, and we concluded that it was likely to be the amount of
breastmilk and fruit she was getting - if she was only fed once or
twice a day , then clearly this would be inadequate.

The BBC clipping (in the link above) is the only one to report that
after the birth, a paediatrician had told the parents that the
mother's breastmilk was nutritionally inadequate.  It is still not
stated whether or not the mother then stopped bf, and gave fruit only
at that point, or if she continued breastfeeding, and supplemented
with fruit.  I suspect she stopped bf, or else reduced hugely the
number and lengths of the feeds.

The parents were spared jail for murder or cruelty as the court felt
they had been punished enough, and there seemed to be no intention to
neglect or harm. They were criticised for not following professional
advice - professionals knew the diet the baby was on, and saw her
decline.

But sadly,  maybe they did follow some professional advice, and stopped bf.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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