Vegan breastfeeding has caused an 11-month-old baby to die and the parents are charged with neglect after an autopsy indicated the baby suffered from severe deficiencies in Vitamin B12 and Vitamin A. Both these nutrients are known to be critical to a child’s development and sorely lacking in a vegan diet. This is why doctors strongly advise against nursing mothers and growing children following a vegan diet (1).
Vegans have long been advised to take B12 supplements as long term veganism runs the huge risk of serious B12 deficiency as well as other nutrients only found in animal foods such as true Vitamin A. Â Beta carotene is not true vitamin AÂ nor does it easily convert to adequate amounts of Vitamin A in the body to sustain optimal health.
While charging the parents in this tragedy is questionable as it smacks of too much interference by government into private life, it does communicate a clear message to other vegans:Â abstinence from all animal foods is a danger to one’s health and most particularly, your baby!
It also sends a clear message that what a nursing Mother eats definitely DOES affect the quality of her breastmilk, particularly with vegan breastfeeding. Many breastfeeding advocates insist that breastmilk will include all a baby needs despite what the Mother eats, but clearly this is not the case.
Traditional cultures took great care to ensure that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers consumed ample amounts of animal foods rich in vitamins A, D, E, K2 and of course B12. These foods included grass-fed butter, pastured eggs, liver, seafood, and fish eggs. Notice that none – NOT ONE of these traditionally sacred foods is plant-based!
Incidentally, the 2017 vegan film What The Health was unable to cite a single successful vegan population group either. Why? Because there are none. Ever.
If you are pregnant and breastfeeding and would like to learn what foods will maximally support the health of your baby while nursing, please check this link for the complete listing of traditionally sacred foods for optimal fetal and baby development. These foods will also ensure the preservation of your own health during pregnancy and lactation which can easily deplete a Mother’s nutritional stores leaving her vulnerable to exhaustion.
Vegan Parents Convicted
The vegan breastfeeding mother and father whose baby died as described in this article were convicted by a French court to 5 years in prison due to the imbalanced vegan diet the mother ate which led to nutrient-poor breastmilk and a failure to thrive child who eventually fell ill from severe nutrient deficiency and died without the parents ever seeking proper medical attention (source).
For more information on how vegan breastfeeding and also a vegan diet devastate the health of children, read about how a 12-year-old vegan was diagnosed with the degenerating bones of an 80-year-old.  Dr. Faisal Ahmed MD, a pediatrician treating the child, said that the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet need to be publicized.
Unfortunately, vegan parents don’t seem to be getting the message quickly enough. The latest case involves vegans who nearly starved their 5-month-old baby to death feeding him potato mash instead of the doctor advised organic formula.
The child, who weighed just over 8 pounds and had sunken eyes and protruding ribs, is recovering but will likely suffer long-term damage from the experience (source).
References
Angelina Jolie says veganism nearly killed her
Supersize Me Girlfriend Quits VeganismÂ
Vitamin A Vagary
Vitamin B12: Vital Nutrient for Good Health
French vegan couple whose baby died of vitamin deficiency after being fed solely on breast milk face jail for child neglect
Well this has really started a debate. I dont think this is a simple case of the parents being vegans. Yes a vegan can become B12 deficient quicker than a meat eater – almost 80% of people who are diagnosed as B12 deficient are actually meat eaters. I eat a whole food plant based diet and I take a B12 supplement.
This is more about the fact that even if the parents did eat meat its actually the childs digestive system that then has to absorb it. If the parents were not vegan would the autopsy have looked for B12 deficiency or would it just have given a verdict of sudden infant death syndrome? We will never know.
I dont think that we should all get onto the parents for their bad decisions – lets face it there are children out there who are being raised by meat eating parents and are in more danger from dietary diseases etc than this poor baby would have been.
Please dont judge someone just because they choose not to eat meat
Very sad, they people lost their baby. But really? To blame this woman for being a Vegan is absolutely ridiculous. I am sure there have been a lot more infant deaths from non-Vegan mothers, we just don’t hear about it I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. But some of the opinions on here are mind boggling. She probably just didn’t eat properly. Period. And she probably didn’t even realize she was doing harm to her baby. My ex-daughter in law ate nothing but crap while she was pregnant and breast feeding. I am amazed that those kids didn’t die from malnutrition. McDonald’s, hotdogs, chocolate bars chips. Her main diet. It made me ill to watch her do this to her babies. I know lots of vegetarians and quite frankly, I would love to eat a plant based diet, but I am too used to meat and my husband wouldn’t appreciate me changing over. Its all about balance. If we follow the Canada Food Guide, we should be fine. I eat meat, but very small portions. So sad that this poor woman has to be condemned on top of losing her baby.
I seriously just want to say one thing. We are Omnivores. We have canines that are for ripping apart meat. Saying that “Eating a vegan diet is completely natural” Is complete crap. We were designed to eat meat. If you choose to eat only vegetables, then that is a choice, but from a biological standard, it isn’t natural. At least not the natural norm.
As for the “lots of babies who are breastfed by vegan mothers who are just fine,” this is true. But you are forcing your decision onto your children. If the mother exclusively breastfeeds her child, and is on a vegan diet, the child will have a much harder time processing meat later. On top of that, I know one too many vegan mothers who make there 1-4 year olds eat only a vegan diet. Again, you are forcing a decision that you make because you want to, onto your children.
by having your children eat meat, aren’t you forcing your meat eating views on your child anyways? Your children need to get direction from whatever you feel is right, be that a vegan diet or an omnivore one. As a parent you need to do what’s best. That’s like saying that a Christian parent is forcing their views on their 1 year old when they bring them to church. That’s like saying you’re forcing your views on your child by making them wear clothing. Of course you’re going to “force” your views on your children, it’s your job to point them in the right direction and teach them about life and what you feel to be the right path.
Don’t forget K2. They may not have tested for it but this nutrient is absolutely essential and found in meat and milk products. It’s still depleted if you eat corn-fed beef or other meats that have not been raised on a proper diet.
And I should add that there is no such thing as a vegan primate. ALL primated eat meat of some kind. Often in the form of grubs and insects, which are excellent sources of K2 and B12 and other nutrients missing in a vegan diet. Our bodies need meat!
Give me a break! What do you think happened in our hunter-gatherer days when meat was not always available due to hibernation or location? The human race would have ceased to exist a loooong time ago if mums had to have meat in order to feed our babies. Even women in third-world countries who don’t get much to eat can breastfeed their babies. Breastmilk is a complete food and makes up for a lack in a mother’s diet. This article is just another example of breastfeeding being demonized. Why? Because it empowers women. Because our sick economy can’t make money off of breastmilk the way it can off of baby formula (which is a DRUG, not a food), nipples, bottles, bottle warmers, and other landfill fodder. And no, I’m not vegan. I’m not vegetarian. I am, however, sick and tired of breastfeeding being treated like it is a risky choice. What is risky is feeding chemicals to an infant — which is “as close to breastmilk” as gasoline.
I’m 51 and I’ve been into physical fitness since I was 14, back then any coach would teach you about nutrition or would encourage you to because it’s very important to eat right if you want the right results from physical fitness. I know nutrition because I experimented a lot with it. There is not way this baby would have died from the milk of a vegan mother. Now B 12 is only produced by bacteria, we get it from the bacteria in our large intestines, that’s the only source. Vitamin A is mostly in orange and yellow and there is no other kind of Vitamin A, where they got that I don’t know. Though there is a defect of the mammary glands where they don’t produce the milk properly. this could have been the problem.
There are so many cruel very stupid comments on this that I can’t even continue to read. I would just like to say, and forgive me if it has already been said….a breastfeeding mother’s nutrients are leached out of her body by the breastfeeding infant making her milk more or less perfect. If this poor mother’s infant died of malnutrition from the milk it means the woman is extremely sick as well, why was this not caught at any of her prenatal doctors appointments? Furthermore, a Vit B12 deficiency takes many many years to develop…I’ve been Vegan for 6 years, and I’ve gone through 1 pregnancy being vegan, all perfect levels, healthy pregnancy, healthy and perfect baby….and I’m breastfeeding my baby, he is 9 months old and is 23 pounds, I believe the doctors said 97 percentile….I’m sure that there are other factors in play other than this woman’s diet, its incredibly unfortunate that these factors weren’t caught before it was too late. Unfortunately babies die…It’s the worse thing in the world, I know this first hand…but a vegan diet is not to blame.
Smacks too much of Big Brother? Absolutely not. Nobody’s saying that people’s diets ought to be dictated but these parents’ idiocy killed a child.
One incident does not prove anything. Was she eating processed foods? Does she have an eating disorder? What about all of the vegans in multiple cultures that have high survival rates and long life spans? True Vitamin A? Really? Is that a medical term? This is “spin” – and it goes against current scientific literature. It speculation On the parts of all involved. Just had my test results back – Vitamin B12 and Vitamin A both came back perfect along with all of my other nutrient levels.. low cholesterol, low blood pressure.