Milk Banks vs. Milk Swaps: Breast Milk's Latest Controversy

Breast-feeding is a demanding undertaking. It takes time, and lots of it, and some mothers are barely able to produce enough milk. But others find themselves with milk to share, and these days, they're being wooed by two very different potential recipients: official nonprofit milk banks that supply nutrient-laden breast milk to preemies and sick infants for a fee, and milk-sharing groups that may help feed the baby next door free of charge.

The breast-feeding community has historically been tightly knit, united in their belief that “breast is best.” But it's increasingly facing off over where to direct the bounty, with each side publicly raising eyebrows over the other side's practices.

The dozen or so breast milk banks across the country recently issued a press release containing an “urgent call” for donations.

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Babies Who Start Solids Too Early More Likely To Be Obese

Ideally, babies are exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of their lives. Then, solid food — really, a misnomer since “solids” consist initially of soupy rice or barley cereal — is introduced. But a quarter of U.S. infants are introduced to solid foods before they hit four months.

Why parents disregard the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization to hold off on solids until six months and what that means for these babies down the road is the subject of two new studies in the AAP journal Pediatrics.

One study, published Monday by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard University, shows that introducing solids before a baby's 4-month birthday is linked to a sixfold increase in that baby becoming obese by the time he's 3. This was true for infants whose mothers never breast-fed them or weaned them before four months.

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Longer Pregnancy + Breast-Feeding = Bigger Brains, Longer Life

Advice around breast-feeding can drive new mothers mad, but a new study suggests that the long pregnancies and lactation periods of our prehistoric mamas are responsible for the relatively big brains that differentiate humans from other animals.

By comparing 128 species of mammals, researchers at the University of Durham in England sought to answer this question: do large brains make species live longer by making them smarter in cheating death, or is the longer lifespan of big-brained animals simply the result of the fact that big brains require more care and time to grow?

"We already know that large-brained species develop slowly, mature later and have longer lifespans but what has not always been clear is why brains and life histories are related," said Robert Barton, lead author of the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a press release.

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Could Breastfeeding Make Baby Brighter? Just Four Weeks on Mother's Milk Can Benefit Brain

Babies who are breastfed grow up to be more intelligent, scientists suggested yesterday.

Just four weeks on their mothers’ milk can have a ‘significant’ effect on a child’s development in primary and secondary school, research has found.

Those who have been breastfed do better at reading, writing and maths at the ages of five, seven, 11 and 14.

While breast milk has long been known to boost babies’ immunity, helping them fight ear infections, stomach bugs and even asthma, little was known about its effects on intelligence until now.

Maria Iacovou, one of the authors of the study, said: ‘The issue was that while it looked as though breastfeeding did have an impact on cognitive development,

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Junk Food Addiction during Pregnancy May Harm the Unborn Kid

A new study has claimed that junk food addiction during pregnancy could indulge the children in the same type of food habits. Researchers believe that high fat and high sugar diet leads to changes in the brain's pathway of the unborn kids which changes their food preferences.

The research has thrown light on the fact that why some people are addicted to junk-food while others resist it.

Researchers from the FOODplus Research Centre in the School of Agriculture Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide, Australia, conducted a study on a group of pregnant rats.

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Breastfeeding While Taking Seizure Drugs May Not Harm Child's IQ, Study Suggests

There's good news for women with epilepsy. Breastfeeding your baby while taking your seizure medication may have no harmful effect on your child's IQ later on, according to a study published in the November 24, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"While more research is needed with larger numbers of women and their babies, these results are reassuring to women who want to give their babies all the benefits of breastfeeding but also need to remain on their epilepsy medications to avoid devastating seizures," said study author Kimford Meador, MD, of Emory University in Atlanta and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

The study followed 194 pregnant women who were taking one epilepsy drug. Of their 199 babies, 42 percent were breastfed. When they were three years old, the children were given IQ tests.

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MOST WOMEN UNAWARE OF KEY NUTRIENT NEEDED FOR BABIES’ DEVELOPMENT DURING PREGNANCY

Most women are aware of only two of the “Big 3” nutrients considered essential during pregnancy and breastfeeding, according to a Kelton Research survey sponsored by the Society for Women’s Health Research, a Washington, D.C.- based national advocacy organization. The majority of women surveyed know the importance of including folic acid and calcium with vitamin D in their diet, but half of them do not know about the need for DHA Omega-3, a critical nutrient for the development and health of a baby’s brain, heart and eyes.

A growing body of scientific evidence continues to demonstrate that DHA Omega-3 is an important building block of perinatal nutrition. Often overlooked by mothers and health care providers alike, it is possibly the most important nutrient expectant mothers don’t know about.

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