To think hospitals should give baby of atopic parents hypoallergenic formula instead of normal formula

[ShineSmile]

... if baby is not taking to breastfeeding for whatever reason, and needs formula milk (normally for a day or two to build up strength etc), the hospital should give baby of atopic parents hypoallergenic formula instead of normal cows milk formula?

(babies of both atopic parents have a 80% chance of allergies, which includes food allergies)

My dd had a life threatening severe and rare reaction to an allergen I passed through my breast milk . I had to cut all allergens out of my diet to safely continue breast feeding . The hospital prescribed a formula (£58 a tin )and I had to give her a small amount daily just in case my milk dried up . They needed her to be used to the taste as it would have been this particular formula or starvation . Thankfully the extreme diet worked and she safely bfed .
At no point did anyone make me feel bad for the cost , I was encouraged to bfed but they were very wary as the reaction was so dangerous .
If some of the idiots in this thread had been in that situation they perhaps would temper their words .
For some babies it's medical - no different than any medical condition . That should be prescribed free .
But , routinely giving specialist formula to higher risk babies is unreasonable . It's important to assume the baby is normal until the evidence speaks for itself . That isn't a financial issue , its the healthier path . Specialist diets need careful monitoring and you should never remove a major food group without medical support and good reason .
There is also huge evidence to suggest removal of allergens from the diet can lead to allergic reactions later . It's currently a huge debate , the peanut advice debacle turned up some interesting statistics .

Sorry shine smile ! Missed your post .
Right , well the issue here maybe not the formula used , but the advice to top up . And also the inability of the midwives and consultants to spot allergies in newborns .
My dd was in with jaundice for 10 days . Had I allowed them to top up with formula she would have died , as that formula would have been cows milk based .
The jaundice was caused because my dd was really ill due to her allergies .
Chickens , eggs and who came first ?

tobysmum77

You know nothing about me. This thread is about newborn babies rather than ten day old babies. Ofcourse I am not an expert. Mothers in the UK have access to midwives and doctors to give advice on top ups. As I said up thread, a healthy baby can quite safely lose up to 10% of its weight. We have midwifes who visit postnatally to make sure babies are feeding well.

My first baby was too poorly to breastfeed and I pumped every three hours around the clock. I couldn't pump enough so he had formula supplements. He was only 5lb 1oz and had jaudice and low blood sugar. I was told by the paediatrian to use top ups. My milk did come in as a result of regular pumping on the 5th day. If I had not pumped then my breasts would not have had the simuation necessary to produce milk.

I feel that HEALTHY mothers who aren't prepared to pump to attempt breastfeeding should not be provide with free milk. I think you will find that most NHS hospitals in the UK has this policy. Colustrum makes a big difference to the health of a new baby.

Hedgehog80 I think its ridicolous not to give a baby in neonatal intensive care formula. The costs of neonate are trival in comparision to the costs of a NICU bed. I used to donate milk to Queen Charlottes and I feel that there should be more milk banks. The majority of very sick babies do better on donated milk than any formula.

Less than 10% of babies with eczema have food related allergies. That is fact. Most people who think their child has a food related allergy may have had a one off reaction and never touched something again even though their system may have gotten used to it with time. My son had a major reaction the first time wheat was introduced. I had to take him to a&e - he had hive type lumps all over him, went
Bright red And started shaking. He is now fine with wheat.
Most people do not understand the complex nature of allergies. But one thing you should not do is stop introducing things because you have a history of allergies. They have to be tried and retried. Milk especially is rarely related to eczema - I lost count of the people that suggested I give up dairy when my sons eczema was really bad. But I sp

Are there breast feeding banks still ? I thought this had been stopped . My dd 2.5 has slowed right down . I am on a dairy soya free diet . My milk supply is plentiful !

But I didn't self diagnose and consulted the very best people I could ( I went private to one of. The best dermatologists in the country) instead of cutting things out of his diet willy nilly which could have caused him more long term problems.

In response to 'buy your own', some people go in fully intending to BF, will BF, but their poorly neonate needs formula for medical reasons.

In answer to your question, I don't know. What is the evidence for giving so called 'hypoallergenic' milk in neonates with atopic parents? What is the NNT? Given 'atopic' parents may just have a bit of hayfever, I think giving all babies of parents with hayfever hydrolysed formula may be totally unnecessary. What is the scientific and public health thinking behind your proposal?

Ds has been bf to past two years. The only formula he has had was when he was a few hors old, which the nhs supplied. Her need it due to medical issues after a long and complicated birth.

If you make mothers who plan to bf bring in formula then bfing rates go down. So yes, the maternity wards should have formula ready for when bfing doesn't go to plan/dc needs more for medical reasons, and that should include hypoallergenic for when DC have a family history of dairy allergies.

But only if the medical evidence supports that. Does it? You may be doing more harm than good. There is evidence for instance that giving nuts to babies with a history of peanut allergies is a possible way forward for instance.

Good point, OP, are you both CMP allergic? If that, they YANBU. If you both have different allergies, then I suspect YABU. Unless you can show me that a housedust allergy, and a bit of contact dermatitis in the family has good evidence that there is CMP allergy in their neonates.

Otherwise, all atopic mothers would need to be advised to avoid eating dairy, in case it went into the milk. Oh, and probably best any other common food allergens, too... may end up with a pretty restricted diet, all unnecessarily.

I don't profess to know much about this sort of thing but I thought the special formulas were only prescribed by specialists? Surely, it's too expensive for the NHS to be prescribing these milks if there isn't a true allergy or heath problem....? I assume there are also different types of formula so how would a midwife know which one?

Breast feeding support is another issue but I can see your line of thought. I don't think YABU.

Exactly my fairy - a specialist needs to decide if these specialist formulas are necessary - otherwise we all start self diagnosing/ diagnose before a problem presents itself and do more harm than good.

We'll if the baby has to be proven to be atopic is it possible to test - screening if both parents are atopic?

Or have a system of supplying a week's worth to see if baby's condition improves such as an exclusion diet that is suggested for intolerance sufferers?

Can I scream at you all nicely please ?

There would be no need to introduce specialist formulas as a precaution if all hcp dealing with newborns were better trained to spot allergies .

Too often serious illnesses are the end result of misdiagnosis . Allergies usually whisper their presence , midwives , hv and drs are often slow to catch on .

No it is far more complex than that maddening. Allergies are notoriously difficult to diagnose and they can come and go. You can react to something one week and be fine he next. I had to wait ages before they felt my son was old enough for allergy tests.
You can't be screened for being atopic. I for instance had eczema in my teens and twenties but nothing as a baby, asthma in my teens but largely grew out of and hayfever in my teens and twenties but appear to have not had the last couple of years.!!!

Atopic does not necessarily mean allergic to dairy though, does it?

Myfairyking, no it doesn't. But if both parents are atopic, there is a 80% chance your child will have some form of allergy (whether food related or environmental, and it normally starts off with food, and cows milk being the most common). If you know of the 80% chance of the allergy being there or being created, shouldn't that be taken into account when introducing cows milk to a baby that is just born? Especially because current evidence suggests the later cows milk is introduced, the less likely they are to be sensetised.

DS1 had formula top ups for low blood sugar as we were both suffering from a prolonged and traumatic birth. Hospital provided formula, and I managed by hook and by crook to establish BFing after about a week. At 5 months he became thouroughly covered in eczema, and his first obvious allergic reaction was on starting weaning. With hindsight, I can tell on photos that he'd had reactions before then when trying to cope with the exhaustion of a growth spurt, I tried some formula. He also had a soya intolerance. By the point it was all officially diagnosed he was over 12m, and our BFs were weaning down so we didn't need to deal with specialist formula.

DH and I have a fairly mundane history of hayfever and eczema so it was a bit of a suprise to us. We were concerned for baby 2. Fortunately he only needed one attempt at formula when I was too exhausted to BF before I'd had chance to express. I don't think a history like ours is sufficient grounds for prescribing specialist formula just in case. As it turns out, DS2 seems to have an allergy, but for a different food. Where there is a strong family history of extreme reactions, that would be a different argument.

Hospitals should provide food for their patients. It wasn't an issue for our case, but the thought of DH being sent out for formula after the shops closed on a Sunday evening, after not sleeping properly for over 36 hours, and having a deeply stressful day resulting in being split between neo natal and HDU, just sounds like inviting a road accident.

Babybarrister, couldn't agree more re that healthcare professionals really urgently need to be clued up. I was told repeatedly that my 3 month old couldn't have an allergy because she was too small! The ignorance even of pediatricians is shocking.

I'll ask MNHQ to move this to the allergy section. Thanks

I don't think it's fair to downplay the severity of allergic reactions and imply a lot of it is blown out of proportion by caregivers. Not many people can afford to go private and all they have to rely on is their instinct and very often an ignorant, misinformed GP.

I also think it's very dangerous to advise that once a reaction has occured to 'just keep at it, it might go away'. Perhaps, but another outcome could be death, so I think I'll not be giving my baby egg, soya or dairy until she stops swelling up from ingesting them rather than hoping she'll just get over it.

My DH is atopic.

My DD has eczema and severe severe allergies.

But I do not believe it would have been best to assume a dairy allergy from start, as she doesn't have one.

I mean, then she would have missed out a food group for no reason and her diet is already limited.

Better allergy testing and awareness is needed.