PHA-Exchange> Some breastfeeding news

[aviva]

From: ted.greiner at chello.se


Recent studies have further refined our knowledge on the association
between
breastfeeding in intelligence. Rao et al (Effect of breastfeeding on
cognitive development of infants born small for gestational age.Acta
Paediatr. 2002;91(3):267-74.) conclude: "Duration of exclusive
breastfeeding
has a significant impact on cognitive development without compromising
growth among children born SGA [small for gestational age]." Similarly,
Mortensen et al. (The Association Between Duration of Breastfeeding and
Adult Intelligence. JAMA 2002;287:2365-71) found slightly higher
intelligence scores in adults who had been breast-fed longer, with many
confounders controlled for.

Finally, the International Confederation of Midwives has issued the
press release pasted in below regarding their stance on HIV and
breastfeeding.

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF MIDWIFES

PRESS RELEASE April 15, 2002

Midwives will support mothers with HIV infection in exclusive
breastfeeding
of their babies where that is the woman's choice.

Delegates to the ICM Council meeting in Vienna, where 60 national
midwifery
associations from 50 countries are represented, have agreed a position
statement on the subject of infant feeding when the mother has been
diagnosed as HIV positive.
A number of research studies carried out over the past two years were
cited,
the findings from which have indicated that to achieve a minimum risk
of
transmission of the virus, babies should be fed exclusively either by
breastfeeding or by a reliable artificial method. The position
statement,
proposed by the Midwives' Society of the Royal College of Nursing and
seconded by the Norwegian Association of Midwives, acknowledges the
difficulty in some circumstances of finding a safe method of artificial
feeding and 'urges the gathering of experience and its dissemination to
support midwives [and] policy-makers ... in achieving the
above-mentioned
options'.
Midwives joining the discussion included those from the Koninglijke
Nederlandse Organisatie van Verloskundigen (Royal Dutch Organisation of
Midwives) who felt that, in developed countries, using a reliable
method of
artificial feeding has a lower risk of mother-to-baby transmission.
A responder from the Gambia Midwives' Association said that she
understood
there was evidence showing that exclusive breastfeeding and
bottle-feeding
carried the same risk of transmission to the baby up to at least three
months of age.
The Iran Midwifery Population's representative stated their
association's
support for the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding by HIV-positive
mothers
in developing countries.

References
Coutsoudis A et al. 2001. Method of feeding and transmission of HIV-1
from
mothers to children by 15 months of age: prospective cohort study from
Durban, S Africa. AIDS; Feb 16, 15(3): 379-387.
Zetterstom R. 2000. Transmission of HIV type-1 from mother to infant.
Acta
Paediatrica; 89(11) November: 1273-1274.
ICM. 1999. Position Statement on Breastfeeding. ICM, The Hague.  Young
Infant and Child Nutrition. Resolution 54/7 by the World Health
Assembly.
WHO, Geneva, 2001.
HYPERLINK "www.internationalmidwives.org" 
www.internationalmidwives.org