BREASTFEEDING CAUTION: ensure adequate supply, to avoid LD's

[healthy11]

There is a tremendous amount of information provided through www.fedisbest.org, including the personal story of Dr. Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, MD ( [e-mail] ) whose own son has been diagnosed with severe language impairment, autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, low IQ, fine and gross motor delays, stemming from inadequate feeding in the first days after birth. Her letter begins:

"My name is Christie del Castillo-Hegyi and I am an emergency physician, former NIH scientist, with a background in newborn brain injury research at Brown University, and mother to a 6-year-old child who is neurologically disabled. I am writing you because my child fell victim to newborn jaundice, hypoglycemia and severe dehydration due to insufficient milk intake from exclusive breastfeeding in the first days of life. As an expectant mom, I read all the guidelines on breastfeeding my first-born child. Unfortunately, following the guidelines and our pediatrician’s advice resulted in my child going 4 days with absolutely no milk intake requiring ICU care. He was subsequently diagnosed with multiple neuro-developmental disabilities. Being a physician and scientist, I sought out peer-reviewed journals to explain why this happened. I found that there is ample evidence showing the links between neonatal jaundice, dehydration, hypoglycemia and developmental disabilities. I wish to explain to you how I believe this could apply to my son and the many children whose care you are entrusted with...."

PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE FOR MORE DETAILS AND INFORMATION: www.fedisbest.org/2015/04/letter-to-doctors-and-parents-about-the-dangers-of-insufficient-exclusive-breastfeeding/

On a related note, here's an excellent site regarding newborn/baby care: med.stanford.edu/newborns.html

[jisp]

Healthy I understand your interest in posting this but as an ex-La Leche League leader I have a lot of concerns about this article. I can't type them all in right now but the main concern is it is alarmist.

I have my suspicion that this mother's child had other issues that resulted in him being so disabled and that the breastfeeding challenges were only part of the picture. For most normal babies this article is creating breastfeeding anxiety which in turn will result in breastfeeding problems.

[healthy11]

If it wasn't for the fact that the mother is both a physician and scientist, I'd be far more skeptical, but the article makes it clear that they want more mothers to be better informed, and they want newborns to be more closely monitored. The disclaimer states, "This document does not replace in-person physician evaluation and treatment. This document is meant to inform parents of the most recent data regarding infant feeding and to increase their knowledge on how to protect their newborns from hyperbilirubinemia, dehydration, hypernatremia, hypoglycemia and extended or repeat hospitalizations due to complications from underfeeding. Earlier supplementation may be needed for babies who are premature or have medical conditions."

I can't help but wonder in my own son's case, whether his having ADHD/LDs could be linked to an initial lack of nutrition? Unlike many families with known hereditary links, my husband and I don't have a known history of LDs/ADHD. I did, however, breastfeed my son exclusively for several months, and he DID lose more than 10% of his body weight and he was cranky/fussy most of the time. (4 days after birth, he was 1 full pound less than when he was born...2 weeks after birth, he was still 4 ounces less than when he was born) They had a lactation consultant work with us in the hospital, and a LaLeche volunteer came to our house once or twice after discharge, but at no time was it suggested that I supplement. As a child/young adult, consuming solid foods, he would still eat every couple of hours, and he has been tested and found to be borderline hypoglycemic. (It was worse when taking ADHD meds that suppressed his appetite, since he would often be more irritable. We initially thought it was "rebound," but after insisting he snack and eat, his symptoms diminished.) He definitely has a fast metabolism; even now, in his mid-20's, he's a hair over 6 ft. tall but weighs just under 150 lbs.

[jisp]

Medical doctors are very ignorant when it comes to breastfeeding. A typical MD who plans to go into OB/GYN or Pediatrics might be lucky enough to get 1/2 day on breastfeeding as part of their education. Don't get me going on the number of women who I have had to help who were given disastrous breastfeeding advice from an MD. Part of me has to wonder when a woman writes an article like this whether she is writing it as a scientist/doctor or she is writing it to come to grips with her own personal issues and tragedy. In this case I suspect the later. Baby's brains have a lot of neuroplasticity and a newborn can go through quite a lot of trauma and still be fine. Think about it terms of human evolution. Babies have had to survive maternal death, being born while mother is in transit, being born during times of famine and war.

It is perfectly normal for a baby to loose weight after birth as Breastfeeding is being established. It is also now established that many breastfeed babies become jaundiced and that there is no indication that this actually leads to any long term harm for the babies. Almost all breastfeeding babies do loose some amount of weight. I really doubt that your son's difficulty getting started breastfeeding or the fact that you breastfed him exclusively contributed in any way. If anything your breastfeeding probably contributed to his overall health and his LDs maybe being less severe.

All that being said I am all for MDs getting more education about breastfeeding and I encourage any new mother to educate herself on breastfeeding. I have been hearing a lot more cases of women saying they do not have "enough milk" to feed their babies. I am not sure if that is just because doctors are nervous, bad early breastfeeding management or due to environmental effects/hormones. But it is concerning.

[kewpie]

I just didn't have enough milk plain and simple. Talk about guilt inducing crap....because it assumed that everything will be just perfect in the land of breastfeeding and it just isn't always so. My oldest was going at it every 20 minutes 24/7 and it still wasn't enough. The hospital gave us baby water bottles to supplement if needed. When I saw he downed almost the whole bottle of water after being breast fed I knew something was off. I started formula and still breast fed but after 5-6 swallows there was nothing else. My middle one I didn't bother. It was so nice to get some sleep for a change! I tried again with my youngest and it was exactly the same as with my first one. It just doesn't work. Luckily I went with my gut instead of listening to the breast feeding crazies. Otherwise my son could have had much more severe issues.