Practice nurse has left me a bit confused

[reginaregenbogen]

We are planning to travel with 5month old DD to India in the near future to visit DH family. I guess now is the best time while she is still exclusively breastfed.
The practice nurse just told me that if I get a stomach bug DD will also get it through my breast milk?! Seriously? That possibility had not even occurred to me,I know some viruses such as HIV can be transmitted via milk but a stomach bug? Am I an idiot for not understanding how that would work or was she talking rubbish?

Talking rot!

Shocking.

I really hope you will brave enough to contact her and tell her how needlessly anxious she made you feel. You will prevent her passing on this utter rubbish to other mothers.

Honestly - we can forgive people not knowing things, but thinking they know them and telling other people the same ignorant warbling is something else.

HIV is the one pathogen that has been shown to 'vertically transmit' via breastmilk and affect the health of a baby.

Everything else does not get through. And it is very useful to breastfeed where the risk of stomach bugs is higher , as a protection for the baby.

Go on - are you going to call her on this?!

www.kellymom.com/health/illness/mom-illness.html

Thank you! I did ask her twice after she said it but then didn't press her on it. Actually wanted to ask how that would work exactly. Seeing her next week for imms so will be brave and clarify!

I guess I can post on the 'my hcp said something really silly about bf' threads now!

What actually happens is that you pass the immunity to your baby through the breastmilk. It may not stop her getting it but it will help her to fight it if she does - and her getting it would be nothing to do with BFing.

Now if SHE got an illness of any kind and you didn't, the pathogen can be passed to you through your nipples for your immune system to make the antibodies and pass them back to her without you even getting ill.

That's magic.

Breastmilk is the only safe thing to feed a baby in areas where there is a risk of infection from water.

The complete opposite is true OP. If you get a bug then the best way to protect your baby is to BF through it, hard as it is. I had a horrible bug a few weeks ago and was sick for 3 days. I was probably so dehydrated but still managed to produce enough milk and dd coslept with me and fed normally and didn't catch the bug.