Perhaps Andrew Wakefield, MD didn’t realize that his 1998 study erroneously linking vaccinations to autism would ignite a decade long controversy. But he should have. If not for the media frenzy fomented by high profile celebrities, the scientific method might have triumphed long ago. Journalists should know better. Yet given the scope of the damage, any claim of vindication would ring hollow. In the end, science prevailed, but at what cost?

After the United Kingdom General Medical Council (GMC) described the actions of Andrew Wakefield, MD, and two of his colleagues as dishonest and irresponsible, The Lancet, a respected medical journal,…

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Breastfeeding keeps babies healthy, but breastfeeding can also make babies sick. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2008 estimated that 430,000 children under the age of 15 were newly infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Most infections were transmitted from mother-to-child during pregnancy, labor, birth, or while breastfeeding. It is estimated that breastfeeding may account for one-third to one-half of all cases of mother-to-child-transmission.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that HIV-infected women in the United States not breastfeed. However, in countries where safe alternatives to human milk are scarce and the risk of infant death from…

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Stephanie Sanders and Alex Bligh both had trouble with their milk supply in their early weeks of breastfeeding. After trying everything else, both turned to a drug called domperidone and found their supply quickly increased. Both were able to continue breastfeeding their children.

The difference? Alex lives in Dunedin, New Zealand, where she got a prescription from her doctor and had it filled at the pharmacy. Stephanie lives in northeast Georgia and had to sneak around, ordering her supply from the internet—from a company in New Zealand. The pills subtly arrived in an unmarked box.

FDA: Not okay
Stephanie and other American women…

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In an effort to encourage hospitals and birthing facilities to select exclusive breast milk feeding as one of their performance measures, the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) recently published guidelines to aid hospitals and birthing facilities in collecting the data needed to ensure compliance.

baby gooroo previously addressed the addition of “exclusive breast milk feeding” to the Joint Commission’s new Perinatal Care core measure set. The perinatal care measures are one of 10 sets of measurements which hospitals select from as part of The Joint Commission’s ORYX performance measurement initiative. Introduced in 1997, the ORYX initiative was designed to integrate outcomes and other…

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Mother Nature often knows best, but she can also be deadly. Herbs, natural remedies, and dietary supplements have become increasingly popular as treatments for a wide range of conditions. Many consider these natural, non-traditional therapies harmless, but natural doesn’t mean safe, especially for pregnant women.

While expectant moms know that smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy can be risky, few realize that herbal medicines, natural remedies, and alternative therapies can actually harm pregnant women or their unborn babies.

Unlike traditional medicines, herbs and other natural supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so there are no set standards for…

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Recent changes in the recommended guidelines for mammograms and Pap smears have resulted in confusion and concern among women of all ages.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced changes in its recommendation for when to begin and how often to have a mammogram only days before the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) announced revisions to its recommendations for when to begin and how often a woman should have a Pap smear. The first created controversy, overshadowing the second—so both beg a closer look.

The mammography guidelines
After reviewing the research evidence, the USPSTF revised mammography guidelines and now suggests that routine…

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According to a recent study published in Canadian Family Physician, cough syrup may be dangerous for children younger than 4 to 6 years of age.

Doctors Shefrin and Goldman of British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, reviewed a collection of studies examining the effectiveness of over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications in young children. Surprisingly, although children aged 0 to 5 years are the most common users of these medications, there is little to no evidence indicating the efficacy of the drugs to improve cough and cold symptoms in this population.

There might be significant evidence indicating the opposite: OTC cough and…

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It is not easy watching your child receive the usual vaccinations. Shots hurt when they’re given, and your child’s discomfort might well last longer than that brief jab. The immune response triggered by many vaccines can cause irritability, soreness, fatigue, loss of appetite, and even fever. Fever might lead to seizures. No one wants their child to go through all that.

It’s natural to want to do all you can to make sure your child’s immunizations are as easy as possible on them. For many of us, that means giving a dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol), either at the time of vaccination…

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Statistics indicate that fewer than 4% of US women admit to using marijuana or other illegal drugs. Though it may be impossible to get reliable data on how many women actually use marijuana or other illegal drugs while pregnant or breastfeeding, a team of French scientists, examined the results of previous studies on the effects of marijuana use while breastfeeding.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Toxicology, clearly show that women who use marijuana should not breastfeed. According to the French researchers, a combination of animal trials and human data indicates that compounds in marijuana can be easily passed on to the…

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This question and answer previously appeared in the April 2009 Feeding Times newsletter Ask Amy column.

Q. I have Graves’ disease and have a breastfeeding 15-month-old. My endocrinologist told me that it was “past” time to be breastfeeding and it’s time to radiate my thyroid. First, I took offense to this man telling me when it was time to stop breastfeeding and judging me for nurturing and bonding with my daughter in one of the best ways I know. Second, he said I could return to my kids immediately after the radiation. What are your thoughts? Do I wean, or “pump and…

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Data from a recent study presented at a meeting of the American Federation of Medical Research revealed for the first time a possible link between vitamin D supplements and formula feeding and an increased risk for urinary tract infection (UTI) in babies.

Dr. Robert Gensure and his colleagues at the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans were researching the role of vitamin D in preventing rickets in breastfed babies. After the first baby enrolled in the study developed a UTI, Ochsner’s safety monitoring board asked the researchers to investigate a possible link to vitamin D. A retrospective analysis revealed a never reported result—a…

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The use of methadone by breastfeeding mothers was the subject of a previous post on baby gooroo where it was reported that women taking methadone for misusing drugs should be encouraged to breastfeed.

As further evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding for methadone-exposed babies, a study published in the BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that traces of methadone in the milk of mothers being treated for substance abuse actually reduced the risk of withdrawal symptoms in their breastfed babies.

According to Helen Mactier, MD, the neonatologist who headed the study, “Our research has shown that breastfeeding seems to protect against the…

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