Want to hear what a Dr. at Columbia Children's said to me?

[True Blue]

I was with a friend whose 4 month old was admitted in an emergency for a diaphragmatic hernia. The intaking Dr. asked what she ate, and my friend said "breastmilk". The doctor asked if that was all, and my friend insisted "ONLY breastmilk". The next question was, "do you give vitamins?" "No". "No vitamins?" "No." "You do know you have to give vitamins if the baby is only getting breastmilk." said in a very better-than-you almost sarcastic way....WHAT????? I said very sternly "No, you don't" and almost laughed at her. She kind of looked at me incredulously and went on with her questions.

Are you serious? This was at New York Prebyterian Children's Hospital of Columbia and Cornell. We're not talking dumb little hospital here.

[lolar2]

It is November. Did the doctor mean just vitamin D, which regardless of feeding method can be deficient north of the Mason-Dixon line (or so) at this time of year, or multis? If it was vitamin D that makes SOME sense, anything else is just silly. Of course.

[rozzie'sma]

When I had my daughter they told me I had to give her Iron supplements.

[minkajane]

DS's old ped tried to get me to give DS vitamin D and fluoride supplements. I didn't bother to go pick up the prescription he put in. I guess he thought I got them because he never mentioned it again. I don't trust fluoride and we were in Texas in July - he hardly needed vitamin D!

[Mama Poot]

Maybe you should ask the doctor if she thinks cows milk isn't good enough for baby cows. Should we give them supplements too? What about all the other mammals on the planet? Is their milk deficient too? Why do medical professionals insist on spreading these lies that human milk isn't good enough for human babies? Those must be some darn fancy vacations those formula companies are offering........

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

Maybe you should ask the doctor if she thinks cows milk isn't good enough for baby cows. Should we give them supplements too?

Good point!

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by rozzie'sma

When I had my daughter they told me I had to give her Iron supplements.

That's really messed up considering your DD's age!

[Meiri]

Are you serious? This was at New York Prebyterian Children's Hospital of Columbia and Cornell. We're not talking dumb little hospital here.

I find that I'm not so easily impressed by the name of any "not dumb little hospital" any more. Friend of mine went to both Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic, doctors at both of which failed to diagnose his Lyme disease + multiple other infections. Took a single rare disease doc, who spent over an hour with him, to figure it out.

This only adds to my skepticism.

VitaminD is not necessarily required even north of the Mason-Dixon line. It doesn't take That much sun exposure for the skin to make the D we need. And I remember the initial issue was for people with darker skin tones, which need more exposure for making D. I don't believe in applying the solution to what is a problem for some to All. That's not medicine; it's superstition.

[Finch]

Originally Posted by Meiri

I find that I'm not so easily impressed by the name of any "not dumb little hospital" any more. Friend of mine went to both Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic, doctors at both of which failed to diagnose his Lyme disease + multiple other infections. Took a single rare disease doc, who spent over an hour with him, to figure it out.

Yep. I have worked for a big ol' famous hospital that has been featured in many a magazine for their ooh la la-ness , and let me tell ya...when it comes to ordinary stuff like normal healthy pregnancies, breastfeeding, etc., they suck. They haven't got a clue. At all.

[sapphire_chan]

Cedar Sinai--'nuff said.

[UrbanPlanter]

Is this the one on the way upper west side?
I have been going there once a year for a World Trade Center Study and the people in the study (not sure how they are affiliated with CPCH but they are housed there) are very supportive and/or not surprised by my son's long-term breastfeeding.

That's about all I know about the hospital. Altho, if you were in the emergency room or something your friend might have seen a less experienced doctor.

[True Blue]

This was just one doctor on the peds floor intaking my friend's 4 month old into the PICU. And she just said "vitamins". Also, it only takes about 15 minutes of sun exposure a week to make enough vitamin D, IIRC from nutrition class in college. It's not all that cold here. It just got down into the 50's during the day...we are certainly not housebound around here.

Everyone else was nice...I just don't understand how a woman who works with kids and babies everyday, in a fantastic facility, can say something like that?

[ktbug]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

Maybe you should ask the doctor if she thinks cows milk isn't good enough for baby cows. Should we give them supplements too? What about all the other mammals on the planet? Is their milk deficient too? Why do medical professionals insist on spreading these lies that human milk isn't good enough for human babies? Those must be some darn fancy vacations those formula companies are offering........

I hate to be the one going out on this limb, but ... someone has to.
It's possible that animals eat what they were designed to eat, and thus receive their requisite amounts of vitamins and minerals. Cows eat what cows need to eat to support their babies. We humans, especially in this day and age, don't. Especially those humans who don't go out of their way to eat natural/sustainable foods. Our diets don't meet our nutritional needs anymore, and when nursing an infant (who needs those vitamins and minerals desperately), we have to be vigilant in our own diets to ensure that they receive the very best milk possible. FWIW, my doc has never told me ds needs vitamin supplements, but she did recommend that I keep taking my prenatal vitamins throughout the course of breastfeeding, just to make sure that my own levels of essential vitamins and minerals remain high enough to support both myself and my dc.

Of course human milk, even from a mother with a poor diet, is still better suited for a baby human than cows' milk or formula. But I don't find it objectionable or nonsensical for a medical practitioner to suggest to a mother that she supplement her diet with essential vitamins. If indeed most people today don't get enough vitamin D, and vitamin D is an important part of infant growth and development, what's wrong with increasing the mother's vitamin D intake, by diet or by supplement?

[mama24-7]

Originally Posted by True Blue

Everyone else was nice...I just don't understand how a woman who works with kids and babies everyday, in a fantastic facility, can say something like that?

Unfortunately, just because someone works with babies/children, doesn't mean they have accurate or even basic breastfeeding information. My brother, who is a nurse & works at top-rated children's hospital was debating w/ me about what feeding cues are. : Hello??? He also feels it's a parent's choice whether or not to BF and that someone is "not the devil" if they choose not to BF. Humans are adaptable, he says. He was FF & he's fine, no diabetes, asthma, etc. :

Just like the rest of the world, doctors, nurses, etc. are a part of the general public. They get all their misinformation the same places everyone else does. We just would like them to educate themselves correctly. Only the ones that want to do, until we start expecting more. Perhaps our children will get better care for their children than we are.

Sus

[greenlace]

Originally Posted by ktbug

I hate to be the one going out on this limb, but ... someone has to.
It's possible that animals eat what they were designed to eat, and thus receive their requisite amounts of vitamins and minerals. Cows eat what cows need to eat to support their babies. We humans, especially in this day and age, don't. Especially those humans who don't go out of their way to eat natural/sustainable foods. Our diets don't meet our nutritional needs anymore, and when nursing an infant (who needs those vitamins and minerals desperately), we have to be vigilant in our own diets to ensure that they receive the very best milk possible. FWIW, my doc has never told me ds needs vitamin supplements, but she did recommend that I keep taking my prenatal vitamins throughout the course of breastfeeding, just to make sure that my own levels of essential vitamins and minerals remain high enough to support both myself and my dc.

Of course human milk, even from a mother with a poor diet, is still better suited for a baby human than cows' milk or formula. But I don't find it objectionable or nonsensical for a medical practitioner to suggest to a mother that she supplement her diet with essential vitamins. If indeed most people today don't get enough vitamin D, and vitamin D is an important part of infant growth and development, what's wrong with increasing the mother's vitamin D intake, by diet or by supplement?

i agree that many, if not most, bf'ing women should continue to take their prenatals through nursing. especially if their diet isn't great. but i am a strong proponent of babies, especially as young as op's friends baby (4 months), ONLY HAVING BREASTMILK. tiny organs and digestive systems were designed to process only bm. (of course, this is the ideal).

unfortunately our medical system is allopathic, and most hcp have no idea what healthy or normal is.

[paquerette]

Originally Posted by ktbug

Our diets don't meet our nutritional needs anymore, and when nursing an infant (who needs those vitamins and minerals desperately), we have to be vigilant in our own diets to ensure that they receive the very best milk possible.

Are you familiar with the studies that show that the milk of mothers with poor diets is virtually identical to that of mothers with excellent diets? Your body will steal nutrition from you to put into your babies during pregnancy and lactation if you don't consume enough for everyone. Your body won't make nutritionally insufficient milk; it will just make less milk. I think this fear that breastfeeding mothers have to painstakingly coordinate their diets to not starve their babies is dangerous as it keeps a lot of people from breastfeeding.

Originally Posted by ktbug

If indeed most people today don't get enough vitamin D, and vitamin D is an important part of infant growth and development, what's wrong with increasing the mother's vitamin D intake, by diet or by supplement?

The safest and easiest way to get vitamin D is sunlight. Very few foods actually contain it. It doesn't make sense to give artificial vitamin D supplements, usually containing potentially hazardous additives, if sunlight is available. And they're not talking about increasing the mother's intake; they're talking about giving it to the infants. Not much vitamin D passes through breastmilk, even if the mother is not deficient. Our bodies are designed to get it from sunlight, even babies.

[MountainLaurel]

Originally Posted by Finch

Yep. I have worked for a big ol' famous hospital that has been featured in many a magazine for their ooh la la-ness , and let me tell ya...when it comes to ordinary stuff like normal healthy pregnancies, breastfeeding, etc., they suck. They haven't got a clue. At all.

:

It's because you can't get research grants from NIH and the drug companies or prestigious awards for the everyday stuff.