My doctor told me a story of how her son, when an infant, was diagnosed as "failure to thrive" and a hospital social worker reported her to Child Protective Services for child abuse. The doctor and her husband were both pediatricians, no less! The infant was being breast fed. He was very very ill, and had extreme allergies to everything. He was finally diagnosed as having cystic fibrosis as well as other severe immune system problems. Despite his diagnosis, CPS continued to dog the family for all of the childs' life--he lived to be 17, then died from the cystic fibrosis. Fortunately for my doctor and her son, the child was never taken away from her, but she constantly had to fend off CPS and their allegations. The only thing that stopped CPS was that physician specialists always came to the aide of the family with medical documentation in their favor; it helped greatly that both parents were themselves physicians, as they could talk with the specialists.

It appears here that the medical community has failed this particular family and child. I agree, if dietary changes needed to be made, and it is not clear from the petition or family story, then the medical establishment should have worked with the family while keeping the baby with his parents. I am guessing that the baby was exclusively breast-fed, and may have needed some food supplementation. I only say this because I breast fed my son without any additional food. When he was six months old, I took him to his pediatrician and told him the baby was waking up 2 to 3 times at night to feed. He said, "well, mother, he's hungry! Try giving him a little rice cereal before he goes to bed!". I did that, and mixed the organic rice cereal with breast milk. My son was able to sleep through the night, and so was I! I added more solid foods, gradually, as he got older, and breast fed him until he was 18 months old.

I signed the petition.

Thank you, E.G., for posting your personal experience re: breast feeding. It is one of the healthiest things a mother can do for her child.

Love,
Liora Leah