Breast Milk Jaundice
Nancy G. Powers MD1
Philip Rosenthal MD2
Frank R. Sinatra MD3
1 Director of Professional Services Wellstart/The San Diego Lactation Program, San Diego, CA
2 Director, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los angeles, CA
3 Director, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
A reader writes about the article on "Jaundice in Infancy" published in the September 1989 issue of Pediatrics in Review:
My first concern is that the authors do not distinguish "breast feeding jaundice" from "breast milk jaundice." This is an important distinction, and it is nicely outlined in a recent publication.1 Secondly, the issue of breast milk jaundice is covered only very superficially, and there is an unequivocal therapeutic suggestion to "interrupt breast feeding" in Table 2 on page 80. The third concern is that fatty acids are suggested as a possible mechanism for breast milk jaundice, when in fact there are several other current theories.1
