Sara wrote:
"With regard to being at risk of problems, the issue the researchers had identified in their unit was that mothers whose babies were losing a lot of weight were more likely to become disillusioned with breastfeeding and turn to supplementation or give up altogether, despite health staff's best efforts to persuade them otherwise."


I have to say I am sadly amused at "the staff's best effort to convince them otherwise".  Isn't it the health staff themselves who need an intervention? Aren't they the ones who have convinced mothers that a 5% weight loss or 8% or 10% or whatever arbitrary number they throw at mothers requires intervention? I don't see midwives at home wrestling with mothers to convince them their babies are not at risk for a 5% weight loss. There must be something different in the approach, no?  


Heather wrote:

"What is disconcerting  to see is HCPs carrying out a study which 
would  seem to *support* those beliefs, that says 'we think your baby 
is at risk and we can rescue your baby from the risk, and like you, 
we suspect you cannot bf without formula'  (and, to add to the 
concern, ignores the ethical issue of treating 'ailments' or 'risks' 
which don't need treating in a way which could have harmful effects)."

I could not agree more. Again, the iatrogenic reality here is being completely ignored. Medical people have created this fear. They need to change their approach--not damage babies--or even risk damaging babies to cover this up. 


Heather:

"With the unsafe ways of bed sharing being sofa sharing/bed sharing 
while drunk and so on...an alluring analogy, for sure,  but one that 
does not stack up. You are right that a more nuanced bed sharing 
message is crucial, for safety, than simply 'never ever under any 
circmstances share a bed with your baby 'cos he will die if you do' . 
But bed sharing is actually a normal, richly-rewarding, and 
beneficial way of caring for a baby at night, and not something that 
HCPs should be in the business of actively discouraging, once safety 
is accounted for. Unlike formula supplementation of breastfeeding."

Agreed again, Heather, as bedsharing is a very poor analogy to compare to artificial feeding and reflects a lack of respect for the physiologic norm. 


As to my review of the research on gut health, it is important to understand that epigenetics is multi-generational. If a mother was AF, if she is obese, if she had abx in labor, her own gut flora reflects that damage and her breastmilk will not be as protective as that of a mother who was born normally, nurse normally, is of normal weight, etc. Every single harmful thing we do to a mother, we do to at least the next 5 generations. So, you need to look at the pieces and how they fit together. The old paradigm no longer applies. In fact, it never did. 






Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, USA & France
Intuitive Parenting Network, LLC



 

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