Problems undermine guidance on breast feeding

Severe hypernatraemia is a rare but potentially fatal condition occurring when dehydration causes salt levels in a baby’s blood to rise dramatically.

If left untreated, it can cause seizures, gangrene, brain damage and even death.

Specialists found 62 cases among nearly 900,000 live births in the UK and Ireland over 13 months to June 2010 – fewer than previous international studies have suggested.

No babies became very ill or died.

Bradford Royal Infirmary consultant neonatologist Sam Oddie, who led the study, said: “Our research shows that this condition is strongly associated with problems in breast milk transfer when babies fail to take in sufficient quantities of milk in the early days of life.

“Only one of the 62 cases had been exclusively formula fed before developing the condition and 52 of the babies were first-borns, so the research shows this illness is intrinsically linked with first-time mums who may not realise their babies are ill.

“The positive news is that no babies got seriously ill or died indicating that the management of diagnosed cases in hospital is good.

“All the babies in our study seem to have gone on to do well.

“If picked up soon enough, the effects are easy to reverse with a steady process of rehydration, but it is not always easy to spot as babies can look pink and alert while being on the verge of becoming critically ill.

“As far as I’m concerned the answer isn’t more formula feeding, but better support for breastfeeding from the outset.”

National advice urges women to breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first six months, which protects the baby from certain infections and for the mother from some diseases in later life, although surveys show fewer than one in 100 actually does – as many face difficulties in the first few weeks.

The research, also involving experts from Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Wakefield’s Pinderfields Hospital and Bradford University’s School of Health Studies, is published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.