Breast Milk Ice Cream 'Baby Gaga'

Have you eaten Ice Creams made out of Human Breast milk.
You might not have even thought about it. But there were Ice Cream manufacturers who thought about this new product.
Ice Creams made out of pure Breast milk of women was available for sale in the counters of an Ice Cream shop in London at the Covent Garden.
The Ice Cream was named as Baby Gaga and the first 50 scoops of this Ice Cream was sold in first few hours.

There has been great rush in the shop for purchasing this Ice Cream.
Also lot of medias covered this new flavour of Icecream that was introduced by this shop in London.
The Government authorities who imposed ban on the Breast Milk Ice Cram said that there is great chance for diseases like HIV Aids .etc getting transmitted through breast milk.
Westminster City Council took action against the shop due to the complaints received from people against making of food products from body fluids of other humans.
The owner of the controversial Icecreamists restaurant which sold Breast Milk Icecreams, got milk donors by giving advertisement in Internet in a website called Mumsnet.
He said that he had done medical tests of these women and confirmed that they do not have any disease.

Health care agencies such as Health Protection Agency, Food Standards Agency took action against the shop by removing all Ice creams that were manufactured using breast milk.
The samples of this Ice-cream was sent to the labs for finding out whether there is any infection in it.
The cost of 1 scoop of this special Ice Cream was 14 pounds (25 Dollars).
The ingredients of Breast Milk Ice Cream are Human Breast milk + Madagascan Vanilla Pods + Lemon Zest.American Pop singer Lady Gaga have reacted angrily against the Restaurant who sold the Ice Creams that were named as Baby Gaga.

Her Lawyers have told the Restaurant that they will take Legal actions for trade mark infringement if the name was not changed with immediate effect.
Even though this Ice Cream was stopped from being sold, it has become a great news in the entire world.
There are many companies that are already looking into ways on how to sell breast milk products legally.

Storing Breast Milk

Breast milk can be deceiving once pumped and stored. It turns chunky and smelly and greenish, something that isn't acceptible when thinking abut regular milk. But actually, those characteristics have nothing to do with the validity of the breast milk. The best factor to deal with breast milk is timing. That's the only reliable factor that will tell you whether it is safe for your baby to drink or not.

In the fridge, the breast milk can hold up to a week. Make sure you date and time your breast milk containers as you pump them, and do not store them in the door of the fridge. Store the milk in the back of the fridge.

In the freezer, breast milk can hold up to 30 days. Again, date and time you pumped it, and do not store the milk in the freezer door.

To heat up store milk, do not microwave it. You will kill nutritious elements of it, and risk scalding your baby's tongue.

Tips to getting more breast milk through the pump.

Taking a hot shower with intense water pressure on your breast will increase milk flow.
Pump one breast while you breastfeed on the other.
Pump more frequently to increase milk production.

Breast Milk Storage Bags

Breast milk storage bags are essential tools for nursing mothers. Breast milk storage bags allows the mothers to be away from their babies and at the same time alleviate their worry that their babies are not getting enough food.

Their worries are now over because they can pump their breast milk into these breast milk storage bags. There are even breast milk storage bags that are directly connected to the breast pump. They can put these breast milk storage bags in the freezer or in the refrigerator after filling them with milk.

It is preferred that after pumping breast milk in the breast milk storage bag to store it in the freezer. Life is full of unexpected things, and babies should have adequate supply of milk especially if their mothers have to leave them for a while.

Better label the breast milk storage bag of the date as to when breast milk is pumped into it.

Labeling is very necessary because it leads to proper storage of the breast milk storage bags. You should always be informed how fresh the milk is before feeding it to your baby.

At room temperature, breast milk that is stored in breast milks storage bag can be consumed within 4 to 8 hours. Refrigerated milk inside a breast milk storage bag, usually lasts from 3 days to a week.

If you have an idea that the milk stored in a breast milk storage bag won't be consumed within the time frame, then the next step is to place them inside the freezer. It is advisable to consume it within 3 to 4 months though and it is important to note that once the frozen milk is thawed, do not refreeze it.

When storing breast milk in the freezer, put only small amounts in your breast milk storage bags. Once the milk inside the breast milk storage bag is thawed, you cannot refreeze it and if the baby cannot consume all the milk, then it would all just go to waste. Smaller portions means less wasted milk. You can also use sterilized baby jars as a replacement for breast milk storage bags.

Breast milk jaundice

What is breast milk jaundice?

Breast milk jaundice is a type of newborn jaundice which is associated with breastfeeding. It is characterised by a raised level of unconjugated bilirubin (also called the indirect bilirubin) in blood. It develops after the first 4 to 7 days, lasts for about 3 to 12 weeks and has no other identifiable cause. The cause of breast milk jaundice is not found but is supposed to be due to following reasons,

presence of pregnane 3 -beta 20- alpha diol and free fatty acids in breast milk that interferes with normal metabolism of bilirubin.
the delay in appearance of normal gut bacteria in baby's gut, due to ingestion of breast milk- which interferes with excretion of bilirubin.
Breast milk jaundice is important because

the presence of jaundice beyond 2 weeks in term babies and 3 weeks in premature babies, should alert the doctor to look for and rule out other causes of jaundice by examining the baby, testing for a split bilirubin test and if necessary performing other tests.
when other conditions are ruled out, it is important to reassure the parents about the harmless nature of breast milk jaundice and prepare them for the lengthy period that the baby could remain jaundiced (up to 3 months).

What is bilirubin?

A newborn is born with an excess of red blood cells that has to be broken up and removed from his blood.These red blood cells have a shorter life span that those of adult's. Bilirubin is one such waste product of broken up red blood cells. The bilirubin that reaches liver is called unconjugated bilirubin. In the liver, bilirubin is conjugated with a sugar to form conjugated bilirubin. Conjugated bilirubin is soluble and it is secreted in to the gut. Here it is further broken down and excreted.

The importance of understanding the metabolism of bilirubin is that the split bilirubin test which measures the levels of conjugated and unconjugated bilirubin helps us to diagnose the cause of Jaundice. For example, jaundice due to liver disease usually causes a leakage of conjugated bilirubin in to blood which is detected by the split bilirubin test.

Also, such presence of water soluble conjugated bilirubin will turn the urine yellow, as kidneys try to excrete the metabolite. In cases of obstruction of bile flow due to liver disease or obstruction of bile ducts, the stools changes from the normal yellow color to white or putty color. This is very important to differentiate breast milk jaundice ( where babies pass plenty of colorless urine and golden yellow poo) from other serious causes of long standing jaundice (for example a liver disease where babies may pass dark yellow urine and pale poo).

Jaundice in newborn:

Jaundice is the yellow appearance of eyes and skin . Jaundice is very common in newborn babies. About 90% of babies become jaundiced two or three days after birth.(Jaundice occuring in the first 24 hours after birth is abnormal and must be evaluated by a doctor)

Physiological Jaundice:

When baby is in the mother's womb, his waste products are removed by the placenta. Once baby is born, baby's liver is responsible for metabolism and excretion. But, baby's liver is immature at birth and takes a few days to catch up. A newborn has an excess of short lived red blood cells which have to be removed. Such an increased work load and decreased functioning of immature baby liver can lead on to a surge in the level of bilirubin. This is called physiological jaundice. Physiological jaundice appears after the first 24 hours, reaches peak in 3 to 4 days and gradually disappears in 2 weeks. (Breast milk jaundice, on the other hand appears after 2 weeks and may last until 3 months).

Breastfeeding jaundice:

Breast feeding jaundice (otherwise called 'Not-enough-breast milk-jaundice') is different from breast milk jaundice. This occurs in the first few days of life and is due to infrequent feeding sessions, poor latching and other reasons that causes delay in establishment of breast feeding. The babies may appear dehydrated, passes scanty urine and poo. This type of jaundice can get severe if there is no intervention. The treatment is by encouraging frequent feeding (10 to 15 times per day ), helping the baby to latch properly and breast compression. A lactation consultant can help and support the mother in establishing breast feeding.

Other causes of Jaundice:

Apart from physiological jaundice, breast feeding jaundice and breast milk jaundice described above, babies can also get jaundiced in many other conditions like

Conditions that cause an increased break down of red blood cells : Examples- spherocytosis, sickle cell anaemia, G6PD, Blood group incompatibility etc.
Prematurity :Delayed clearance of physiological jaundice.
Under active thyroid gland: Delayed clearance of physiological jaundice.
Infections: A hidden urinary tract infection or sepsis in blood
Liver diseases- which are rare, but could be serious.
Symptoms of breast milk jaundice:

Breast milk jaundice occurs after 4 to 7 days of life, usually when physiological jaundice has resolved. Interestingly many infants with breast milk jaundice also had an exaggerated physiological jaundice. A second peak by the age of 14 days. After lingering on for a few weeks to months, it resolves by the age of 12 weeks.

Breast milk jaundice is often picked up by the yellowish appearance of skin and eyes during a routine examination of a new born baby during the first week. In dark skinned babies, gentle pressure can reveal the presence of jaundice. A rough correlation between the blood levels of bilirubin and the extent of jaundice is often noted (face- approximately 5mg/dl, mid abdomen-15mg/dl, feet- 20 mg/dl). However the doctor often performs a blood test to diagnose the presence or the extent of jaundice, because visual determination is often very inaccurate. Babies with high level of bilirubin tend to be sleepy.

Breast milk jaundice often runs in families. If a sibling has already had breast milk jaundice, there is greater chance for a baby to have breast milk jaundice. Babies with breast milk jaundice are thriving well, regained birth weight and gaining weight steadily, passing plenty of colorless urine (at least 6 to 8 wet diapers) and golden yellow or daffodil yellow poo.

How is breast milk jaundice diagnosed?

Breast milk jaundice is a diagnosis of exclusion- that is a diagnosis made when other conditions are ruled out.

So if a baby is still jaundiced after 2 weeks, the physician gives a thorough examination of the baby to see if the baby has any congenital abnormality, anaemia, dehydration,bleeding, any enlargement of liver or spleen etc. He enquires about the weight of the baby, number of wet diapers, color of urine and stool and if there were similar complaints with other siblings in their newborn period. He will do a split bilirubin blood test . Other tests, including blood grouping and tests to detect infection may be necessary depending on the clinical presentation. Similarly, with a prolonged course of jaundice, it may be necessary to repeat the blood test to look for a decreasing trend in the levels. Blood levels can also be measured by non invasive techniques like transcutaneous bilirubinometry.

Split bilirubin test determines if the elevated bilirubin is predominantly conjugated or unconjugated (if the conjugated fraction is greater than 20 % of the total bilirubin it indicates liver disease ).

Treatment of breast milk jaundice:

When a diagnosis of breast milk jaundice is made, it is important to allay the fear and anxiety of parents by explaining them the benign nature of breast milk jaundice. There has been claims that breast milk jaundice can be protective for the babies, citing the antioxidant role of bilirubin. Parents should also be counselled for a long period of resolution, as long as 3 months.

Mothers are instructed to breast feed the babies frequently - 12 to 15 times for the first several days. Jaundiced babies tend to be sleepy and may need to be gently waken up for a feed. Lactation consultant can help in establishing and supporting breast feeding. Frequent feeding increases the number of bowel movements that help in excretion of bilirubin.

Although studies have shown that breast milk jaundice can rapidly be brought down by stopping breast feeding (and resuming breast feeding strangely does not cause an increase in blood level to the previous level) interruption of breast feeding is not generally recommended.

If the bilirubin levels gets too high , the baby is treated with phototherapy. Phototherapy can be administered with standard phototherapy units (where the baby is made to lie ,with only diapers and eye pad, on a cot under special blue lights) or wrapped in a bili blanket. The light breaks down the bilirubin and lowers its level. Although sunlight also has the sufficient wavelength to provide phototherapy, the risk of getting a 'sun burn' while exposing the baby to sun prevent some doctors from advising so. Fibre optic phototherapy can often be safely administered at home. Mothers are instructed to feed the baby frequently despite phototherapy.

Complications:

There is no documented case of high bilirubin level led brain damage (kernicterus) due to breast milk jaundice. Babies are often put on phototherapy well before such levels could be reached.

You must call the doctor immediately if

baby is too sleepy to wake, nurses poorly, is floppy , develops a high pitched cry, arches the back or neck or throws a seizures- these signs indicate that the blood level of bilirubin is dangerously high.
if the baby's poo or urine is not in the right color, irrespective of the age , baby should be investigated.

Remember:

Breast milk jaundice is very common.
It has an excellent prognosis although it can last for up to 12 weeks.
Interruption of breast feeding is generally not recommended in breast milk jaundice.