MRSA risk...thought you educators might find this interesting.

I am NOT trying to warn about BF, AT ALL, but since so many people on this board work with mother/baby type situations, I thought it was worth passing along. You never know when you might have someone with a breast infection that is not responding well to the normal antibiotics and this is something to consider.
Take care. :)


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&ncid=594&e=19&u=/nm/20041101/hl_nm/infants_superbug_dc

It doesn't seem that this is conclusive. I would still think that the benefits(especially to preemies) outweigh the risk.

Oh, yes, but if you are a midwife, nurse, doula, or lactation consultant and have a mom who has an absess that isn't resolving with normal antibiotics, then MRSA may be an issue. It is becoming more and more common. Anyway, if the article spurs someone to at least check out the possiblity before it gets passed to a baby, then the article was worth passing.

Again, I am in no way trying to talk anyone out of nursing their baby. This is just when an infection is present....something to consider.
:)

Ah, the overuse of antibiotics..... And yet so many doctors still hand out the stuff for any sign of ear infection, sore throat, whatever, what-have-you....

I agree, the article even said, just because the MRSA was in the breastmilk, they don't know how or if that plays in the transmission. If the mom had MRSA and the primary way to spread it is skin-to-skin contact.....hmmm.... I'd hazard to guess she probably touched her kids, huh? Did she use proper hygiene when pumping and feeding the babies? Did the nurses, who handled the milk, the other babies, etc..

I find this info inconclusive, and the benefits and protective qualities of breastmilk to all babies, preemies, especially, has proven unbelievably positive. Until they come out with some better info, I'd stick with good hygiene and nature's best -- mama's milk.

This reminds me of the whole HIV/breastmilk issue. Here in the US, because HIV can be found in breastmilk, women can go to jail for breastfeeding their children if the mom is HIV-positive. However, this is not the case in other countries. Studies, such as the Coutsoudis study, have found that while HIV can be found in breastmilk - babies that are exclusively breastfed for at least 3 months had no greater risk of contracting HIV than those who never breastfed. (If they did a mix of breastfeeding and supplementing with formula, the risk was higher).

In another study (I can't remember the name of the study off the top of my head, but I could find it if anyone is interested), they put HIV in petri dishes, and squirted some samples with breastmilk. Guess what?

Yep, breastmilk killed the HIV.

FWIW, I support HIV-positive women being allowed to breastfeed their children with INFORMED CHOICE of risks if they then supplement, and benefits, if they are committed to exclusive breastfeeding -- but that's a whole other topic!

Recently, there was a study in the news about breastmilk curing warts.

Amazing stuff, isn't it?

I agree that antibiotics are overused. Neither of my girls have ever had them (except Colleen had some in the NICU) but none for childhood illnesses.
I am not saying that breastmilk should't be used, just that being aware of the MRSA risk is handy, since many doctors don't think about it. We get woman admitted with infected c-section incisions...and if the wound is oozing, they are not suppose to be on our unit because of the babies. We have had times when it ends up being MRSA and the doctors haven't even considered it even though the woman may have been on a fairly powerful antibiotic at home prior to admission.
Anyway, I just thought the information was important because the treatments for MRSA are fairy harsh antibiotics and I would want to make sure extra care was taken to not have it passed along...
:)

Yes, thanks for passing it along, Maggie. I always like to stay informed of what the latest news is, whether I agree or not.

Oh, yes, but if you are a midwife, nurse, doula, or lactation consultant and have a mom who has an absess that isn't resolving with normal antibiotics, then MRSA may be an issue. It is becoming more and more common. Anyway, if the article spurs someone to at least check out the possiblity before it gets passed to a baby, then the article was worth passing.

Again, I am in no way trying to talk anyone out of nursing their baby. This is just when an infection is present....something to consider.
:)But Maggie, my concern is that spreading information that is inconclusive can have a negative impact on breastfeeding. There are people who still think that it really doesn't make that much difference whether you bf or ff. BF has innumerable benefits to the short and longterm health of mother and baby. I wonder how much sooner these babies would have contracted this had they been ff, the mother would have still touched them.
Not trying to be hard on you. Just sharing my concerns.

posted twice:blush

I really think that I said in ALL my post that I am NOT trying to keep people from breastfeeding....did I not?

But, having that said, if someone who does NOT have an absess that is not responding to antibiotics, lets the information about MRSA stop them, then they wanted to stop anyway. IMO.

As for people in a patient care situations, this may very well help them save breastfeeding because they will see it is done right before someone uninformed stops it all together. It may make the the one person involved in that mother's breast care to suggest that MRSA should be ruled out and that pumping and storage should be done more meticulously than normal until that time for the health of the baby. If I recall, wasn't the MRSA found IN the frozen milk?

Do we not tell breastfeeding mothers to make sure they are changing 6 wet and 4 stool diapers each day with newborns? Do we not warn them to watch for yellowing of skin? Lethargy? It would be imprudent to not be aware that there are concerns because in RARE cases, severe forms of jaundice can cause brain damage...and it is EASILY treated if caught early and EASILY prevented with education frequent breastfeeding.

These risk, by no means, diminish the overwhelming benefits of breastfeeding.

I guess I should have private messaged the article to the people involved in care. NOTHING of this nature would have stopped me from breastfeeding, so it really didn't occure to me that someone would read the article and not breastfeed because of it.





But Maggie, my concern is that spreading information that is inconclusive can have a negative impact on breastfeeding. There are people who still think that it really doesn't make that much difference whether you bf or ff. BF has innumerable benefits to the short and longterm health of mother and baby. I wonder how much sooner these babies would have contracted this had they been ff, the mother would have still touched them.
Not trying to be hard on you. Just sharing my concerns.

It was not a personal attack. I was sharing my concerns about the article.
I'm glad you were well educated on bf, sadly many people get misinformation. It is even sadder that sometimes it is from healthcare professionals. A Dr. told my SIL to stop bf'ing because she had a virus:(