Random thought..Breast Milk vrs Breast Milk? 29 November 2013 at 11:51AM in MoneySaving mums 28 replies 6.6K views

poet123

The immunity wanes very quickly though, certainly by the age of 12months in most cases. One of my sons had CP at age 4 when another son was 4 weeks old. The baby didn't get it and none of them were breastfed.

mumps

poet123 wrote: »

The immunity wanes very quickly though, certainly by the age of 12months in most cases. One of my sons had CP at age 4 when another son was 4 weeks old. The baby didn't get it and none of them were breastfed.

Does that mean if you are still breastfeeding at twelve months the baby isn't benefitting from mother's immunity? I don't understand that, surely they would benefit? I think at 4 weeks the baby could have had immunity from you if you had it as a child, I think it is called pasive immunity and happens in pregnancy when it is passed from your blood to the baby.

poet123

mumps wrote: »

Does that mean if you are still breastfeeding at twelve months the baby isn't benefitting from mother's immunity? I don't understand that, surely they would benefit? I think at 4 weeks the baby could have had immunity from you if you had it as a child, I think it is called pasive immunity and happens in pregnancy when it is passed from your blood to the baby.

No, immunity wanes, often quite quickly. That is why the vaccination schedule for certain diseases kicks in from 2 months.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/939.aspx?CategoryID=54

mumps

poet123 wrote: »

No, immunity wanes, often quite quickly. That is why the vaccination schedule for certain diseases kicks in from 2 months.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/939.aspx?CategoryID=54

But that link is saying the passive immunity wanes, not specifically the immunity from breastfeeding. I have found links saying the benefits go on as long as you breastfeed but most are from organisations that might be perceived as biased. There seem to be alot of American hospitals advocating the benefits.

Re the vaccination schedule wouldn't that be influenced by the fact that the majority of mothers have stopped breastfeeding well before two months?

poet123

As I understand it the passive immunity is the immunity the mother carries so once passed on that is it. You can only pass on what you have.

mumps

poet123 wrote: »

As I understand it the passive immunity is the immunity the mother carries so once passed on that is it. You can only pass on what you have.

I would be interested in what one of the breastfeeding peer supporters say, some of the sites I looked at definitely say the benefits carry on while you are feeding. It seems logical to me that the immunity the baby acquires in the womb would wane but that the immunity from breast milk would continue. I am interested in this as my DIL is trying to find out as much as she can to help her make a decision about breast feeding. Her mother didn't and I did but neither of us are millitant about it. I do think it is a shame that her mother seems to believe that her babies didn't like breast milk and DIL seems to think this is likely to be passed on i.e. she didn't like breast milk so her baby won't but then my sons love of it might balance that out

poet123

If immunity carried on then there would not have been the furore there was about babies being vaccinated against Measles in Wales, even though the manufacturers didn't guarantee the vaccine safe for those under 12 months. The authorities were adamant that any immunity gained via the mother had gone or would not protect the baby so pushed the vaccine despite the caveat on the vaccine insert.

mumps

poet123 wrote: »

If immunity carried on then there would not have been the furore there was about babies being vaccinated against Measles in Wales, even though the manufacturers didn't guarantee the vaccine safe for those under 12 months. The authorities were adamant that any immunity gained via the mother had gone or would not protect the baby so pushed the vaccine despite the caveat on the vaccine insert.

But isn't that because most of them will have stopped breastfeeding? I absolutely agree that the immunity gained in the womb will have gone, what I am asking about is the immunity gained from breastfeeding. If the majority were still breastfeeding at 2 months your point would be very relevant but that isn't true is it?

Xaniwoop

I've got to hit the school run but until I get back take a look at this:

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/immunefactors/

You are both right in different ways. I would expect though that the vaccination schedule is based on expecting most people to have given up or not initiated breastfeeding.

I'll be back with some stuff for your DIL to think about later Mumps.

poet123

mumps wrote: »

But isn't that because most of them will have stopped breastfeeding? I absolutely agree that the immunity gained in the womb will have gone, what I am asking about is the immunity gained from breastfeeding. If the majority were still breastfeeding at 2 months your point would be very relevant but that isn't true is it?

I don't know the stats on how long most women breastfeed for. Most of my friends who did it did it until their baby was weaned.