CDC - get a clue

It does say something about wearing the mask when "handling" the baby, but the page is specifically for bfing mothers.

more here on this topic: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=204657&page=2&pp=20

Now, heads up the keisters. THAT sounds unhygienic! But, honestly, this is the 21st century. What's next? Will the CDC tell pregnant women not to look at anything ugly lest they 'mark' the baby?

Quick, must write them now......before I calm down.

Wrote them a scathing email..... honestly, haven't they ever heard of how mothers secrete antibodies in their milk?????

Is there a corresponding page for bottlefeeding mothers advising them of all the different ways the formula could get contaminated (oh, and don't forget the mask)?

Here is what I wrote:

I found a link on the blog "Fructus ventris"
to your reccommendations for nursing mothers with a flu like illness, telling them to wear a mask while they nurse. You don't say if they should also wear the mask when they cuddle and play with the baby, when they change diapers, etc. The contact would be just as close in these instances. You don't say whether a bottle feeding mother would also need to wear a mask. Really, honestly, this is silly. The mother of a small baby would need to wear a mask for most of the day, or to be constantly putting it off and on. Seeing its mother in a mask might well upset a baby. Washing one's hands frequently and doing one's best not to sneeze or cough right in the baby's face are reasonable precautions that most sensible mothers would take anyway. Mothers produce antibodies in their milk to whatever diseases they have been exposed to. I am not sure how long it takes for enough antibodies to a current infection to be produced for there to be adequate numbers in the breast milk, but I do know that young babies who are completely breast fed, receiving no other food, say, up to 6 months old, seldom get sick even when everyone else in the family has some bug. This is from my experience as the mother of nine, and the experience of my friends who are also mothers of large families, and from experiences shared by other nursing mothers in various publications. Anecdotal, I know. I don't see how you could run a controlled study on this, but you could probably design some kind of questionaire, ask midwives and obstetricians to give it to their new mothers to fill out for one year, marking when they and their other children are ill and whether the baby has symptoms. Pediatricians would not have this data, since other than regular checkups, they only see sick babies, but they could give it to the mothers of babies who become their patients as newborns. It should also include if baby is 100%on breastmilk, or what breastmilk substitutes have been used, or what other foods have been introduced. You could also collect a small amount of socioeconomic data; it would be useful to have this, as long as it did not prevent some people from returning the form.

But meanwhile, please don't portray breastfeeding as some kind of clinical activity, requiring special precautions greater than those involved in other activities with babies.

Thanks,
Susan F.Peterson