blood in stool

[Guest guest]

I asked another lactation consultant about blood in baby's stools and she

did a little legwork for me and found this on Lactnet archives:

 

Vicky:

> Re: blood in stool

>

> Whenever I have questions like this, I do a search of

> the Lactnet Archives on the topic and usually find

> some references. Here is one post I copied:

>

> This sounds like a baby who might be helped by mom

> taking pancreatic

> enzymes, as mentioned by Dr. Newman in _The Ultimate

> Breastfeeding

> Book of Answers_. Trying it seems unlikely to cause

> harm, in any

> case.

>

> LLLI's _Breastfeeding Answer Book_ says this (3rd

> edition, 2003, p. 133):

> " Research has documented that food proteins can pass

> whole into human

> milk. Cow's milk (Sorva 1994; Clyne and Kulczycki

> 1991), egg (Casas

> 2000), and peanut (Vadas 2001) allergens have all been

> isolated in

> human milk. Although for most babies exposure to

> these food proteins

> does not cause a problem, for allergic babies,

> reactions sometimes

> occur. Although an elimination diet helps in many

> cases, it can be

> difficult, as a mother may need to severely restrict

> her diet to get

> results. As an alternative, some doctors recommend

> that mothers stop

> breastfeeding and feed their babies hydrolyzed or

> elemental cow's

> milk formula.

>

> " A new, simpler treatment is now available when

> allergic

> breastfeeding babies react to foods in the mother's

> diet. Using a

> digestive enzyme taken by people with cystic fibrosis

> to help break

> down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, the mother

> takes two

> prescribed Pancrease MT4-strength tablets with each

> meal and one with

> each snack (Schach and Haight 2002; Repucci 1999).

> The effect is to

> break down food more thoroughly in the mother's

> digestive system, so

> that the offending food is less likely to pass intact

> into her milk.

>

> " In one study on this treatment at the University of

> California at

> Davis, 16 breastfeeding mothers began an elimination

> diet starting

> with dairy, soy, nuts, strawberries, and chocolate and

> began taking

> the Pancrease as directed. In 13 of the babies bloody

> stools

> resolved and colic symptoms decreased while the

> mothers continued to

> breastfeed. Although this treatment shows promise,

> more studies are

> needed with a control group as well as a treatment

> group to better

> evaluate the efficacy of this new option. "

>

> The citations for Pancrease use are:

> Schach, B. and Haight, M. Colic and food allergy in

> the breastfed

> infant: is it possible for an exclusively breastfed

> infant to suffer

> from food allergy? J Hum Lact 2002; 18(1):50-52.

>

> Repucci, A. Resolution of stool blood in breast-fed

> infants with

> maternal ingestion of pancreatic enzymes. J Ped

> Gastro Nutr 1999;

> 84:353-60.

>

> On a personal note, my first child had a pattern

> similar to what you

> describe for this baby -- he gained extremely well at

> the breast (a

> pound a week in the early weeks) and all seemed great

> until one day

> there was frank blood in his diapers and he began

> spitting up

> copiously and constantly. It took me awhile to figure

> out that a

> strict elimination diet (dairy) was the solution for

> us. It sounds

> as if this dyad has a more severe situation, but I was

> struck by the

> parallels.

>

>

> Hope this is helpful.

> Dixie

>

> --- vmyork wrote:

>

> > Dixie, > > on what basis do peds and LC's assume that

> > blood in the stool is from allergy to dairy products

> > in mom's diet.

> > > >

> > Vicky

> >

> >

> >

> > Vicky York, IBCLC, CPD

> > Postpartum Care Services

> > Portland/Eugene

> > http://mypeoplepc.com/members/vmyork/

> > http://vmyork.ikarma.com

> >

>

>