Such as for hypoglycemia, hyperbili and other short term situations than may only need donor human milk for a few feeds while mother's own milk is being established. Looking for published research. Thanks
I actually cannot find any evidence that human donor milk has any benefit in practice over and above simpler and cheaper alternatives, even in preventing infections.
You have made this point many many times on Research Gate. However you have not provided any research to show that the intervention of breast milk substitutes are of any benefit above the biologically normal human milk for human babies. Furthermore what is your evidence that substitutes are cheaper and "simpler" than human milk?
"However you have not provided any research to show that the intervention of breast milk substitutes are of any benefit above the biologically normal human milk for human babies."
I am not claiming this. What I have said is that what matters is how infants are fed, not what they are fed with. I am sorry to keep banging on about this, but will continue to do so until someone takes my theory seriously and tests it.
"Furthermore what is your evidence that substitutes are cheaper and "simpler" than human milk?"
This was with reference to the situations where breast milk banks are set up, not to infant feeding in the normal population.
There are studies published that examined how fed as well as what fed and these found that feeding breastmilk substitutes from a bottle gave the poorest outcomes, expressed human milk from a bottle intermediate outcomes and feeding at the breast the best outcomes. Perhaps if you don't like the existing evidence you could outline a protocol for a study that would test your specific theory that you feel is unacknowledged?
"There are studies published that examined how fed as well as what fed and these found that feeding breastmilk substitutes from a bottle gave the poorest outcomes, expressed human milk from a bottle intermediate outcomes and feeding at the breast the best outcomes"
Do you have the reference(s)? However, the mode of feeding differed, ie at breast or from bottle. I was at a lecture last night where the possibility of mammary pheromones was raised. I don't think this would explain differential breast/bottle outcomes, but nevertheless it is a another confounding variable along with feeding position that needs to be taken into account when comparing infant foods.
To see if breast milk contains a magic ingredient, the alternative foods and expressed breast milk would all need to be presented via bottle.
Here is 2 to start you off. Boone, Kelly M. et al. Feeding at the Breast and Expressed Milk Feeding: Associations with Otitis Media and Diarrhea in Infants. The Journal of Pediatrics , Volume 174 , 118 - 125, 2016
Li, R.W., Magadia, J., Fein, S.B., Grummer-Strawn, L.M. Risk of bottle-feeding for rapid weight gain during the first year of life. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012;166:431–436.
Human milk for human babies is the biological norm and effective for thousands of years.It does not need to be proved. If you want to put forward an intervention it is up to you to prove the intervention is better than the norm.
"Human milk for human babies is the biological norm and effective for thousands of years.It does not need to be proved. If you want to put forward an intervention it is up to you to prove the intervention is better than the norm."
Yes, of course breast feeding is the natural default position, and needs no proof. However, a lot of the rhetoric around this topic concentrates on "advantages" of breast feeding, rather than disadvantages of non-breastfeeding. Why was there much higher mortality and morbidity in the past, and in some parts of the world today, in non-breast fed infants? I am trying to understand this, though it is quite clear that this has nothing to do with anything good in breast milk or indeed bad in alternative foods.
I would be very happy if all infants were breastfed. This is not going to happen, so we need to know why in most cases non-breastfeeding is perfectly safe, whilst in others it is still fatal.
"The Journal of Pediatrics , Volume 174 , 118 - 125, 2016"
Infants fed expressed breast milk by bottle gained significantly more weight than when fed at the breast only. The authors conclude:
"Breastfeeding and breastmilk feeding might be fundamentally different"
"Regardless of milk type in the bottle, bottle-feeding might be distinct from breastfeeding in its effect on weight gain. Feeding at the breast needs to be the first feeding choice for babies". This is exactly the point I have been making with respect to extra morbidity and mortality in non-breastfed infants.
There was no mention of supine feeding, likely to be much commoner in the bottlefed. When infants are fed on their backs, overfeeding makes it even more likely milk will end up in their ears.
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