Just a case study to consider- I had a slightly different case about 5 years ago. (I was actually there for a consult because the baby would not latch- tongue sucker- big time.) Mom showed signs and symptoms of a primary chicken pox outbreak about 5 hours after the birth of her baby (very quick 3 hour labor for a first time mom). Normally the doctor would have strongly advised, removal the baby from Mom's care and had Mom pump and give milk, but they were all unsure of what to do since this Mom had a positive varicella titer in her chart within the past year. Before she was pregnant, She had asked for the chicken pox vaccine (she is a teacher) because she had never had the chicken pox. The doctor ordered a titer and her request was turned down by her HMO after her titer came back with sufficient antibodies in her blood. When she presented with chicken pox in the hospital so soon after the birth of her baby, the doctors did not know what to do. I gave the parents the information I had from Lawrence, Riordan and Auerbach and my Breastfeeding Answer Book. The thinking at that time? If she has antibodies in her blood to begin with, then they should be in the milk, and the baby was already exposed in utero (perhaps that is why her little girl made a hasty exit at 38 weeks). The questions- Was breastfeeding with Mom going to expose her more than when she was in utero? What was more detrimental- formula and denile of a mother's loving care or longer exposure to the chicken pox? After many calls to two local children's hospitals and a conference with Mom, the doctors decided to treat this like a case of chicken pox in the family and encouraged her to keep nursing. If I remember correctly, they gave Immuno-globulin/and anti viral meds and left it at that. Baby did get the chicken pox, a very mild case, about two and a half weeks later. Baby did very well and had no problems... I don't think this was something the doctors were taking lightly, but they did take into account this Mom's strong desire to breastfeed and presented her with all of the risks and possible outcomes. If the baby had contracted chicken pox within the first seven days, there would have been no telling if she had contracted it from mom in uetero or afterwards. Bottom line was that they really did not know what would happen, but erred on the protection and superior nutrition of breastmilk. This practice was not particularly breastfeeding friendly (they had mom pump and dump for a week for an antibiotic for Bacterial vaginosis (BV) when the baby was about 15 months old- poor Mom never did get babe back to breast). Wamly, Charity M. Pitcher-Cooper BSN, RN, CBE *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html