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
Tony
Great article Sarah, I tell every pregnant women I meet to go to Weston A. Price foundation website and learn about highly nutritious diets. As you know, in a wiser era, young couples wanting children would go on the sacred fats before they got pregnant, grass fed raw butters,fish eggs, animals organs, as Dr. Price traveled the world in the 30’s and conclusively showed that before roads and packaged food came in people were living over 100 years old and the diet was always around fat soluble vitamins from animals, insects, and raw dairy, and we know Weston A. Price babies all have nice big skulls, no pinched faces, and never crowded teeth.
mariao
Do you have scientific evidence (link peer reviewed articles) that vegan breast milk is dangerous and deadly for a babies health? You only linked one story and made a whole conclusion that it’s dangerous. Ignorance at it’s finest.
Casey Jackson
B12 comes from bacteria found in the digestive tract and colon of mammals that eat plants and animals that eat other animals who have ingested B12 by these means. When you ingest animal flesh you consume B12 by way of light fecal contamination. I am vegan and I have a very chubby breastfed infant in perfect health. As a vegan I realize that there are extremely limited plant sources of B12 (mostly marine algae and contaminated plant sources) so I supplement. This article not only misleads the reader due to the inaccuracy of the cause of death of the infant, but it paints a negative picture on the lifestyle of the vegan. More research comes out every day supporting the health benefits of a vegan diet. I suggest the author and any readers to consult the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (https://www.pcrm.org) website to educate themselves on the data that supports this and is back by over 12,000 physicians before believing an erroneous blog post. I believe the author has good intent, but just was not fully educated before posting.
Sarah Pope MGA
This article explains why the B12 made in the gut isn’t usable by the human body. In addition, SO MANY people have gut imbalance today and there is no guarantee that you will have the right strains in the proper proportion to other gut bacteria that any B12 will be produced anyway. This is why smart vegans ALWAYS take a B12 supplement. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/vitamin-b12-critical-nutrient-found-only-in-animal-foods/
Joy
Irresponsible because you have manipulated this article. The FACT – if anyone is interested in checking her sources – is that the parents did not treat the baby properly for Pneumonia, by choosing not to seek /follow doctors instructions. This baby did not die because she was on a vegan diet.
Sarah Pope MGA
If what you say is true, then WHY was the couple prosecuted with vegan breastfeeding cited as part of the evidence against them? Remember, they were found guilty.
Deedow
A well planned vegan diet. It has to be very well planned . A lot of time studying cooking . More money spent on shopping for foods you need to combine to get complete or true nutrition and taste or in the compose pile it goes. The frozen vegan foods r expensive not to mention totally processed because taste not nutrition is # 1 for sales. Go to one of the vegan food companies web sites up pops stock market investors ads. That’s a whole other side of it. I am not against eating less meat. I’ve did that my whole life. I do feel it is important for pregnant and lactating moms and developing babies / children to eat foods god meant for us to eat in order to survive of the fittest. If you are able to prepare vegan food s that provide quality nutrition every day for your and babies life that is awesome. However we r talking about new young woman who r the marketing firms biggest easiest target. They want the best for babies, just not enough nutrition and digestion knowledge…they resist and are losing grand parents and friends as well. It is scary !! If your child has any problems later in life, learning, sports, etc in comparison to non vegan child who will be to blame? Give yourself/ child 110% of the best foods you received and can eat. Vegan is best for non child bareing adults.
mama
“Moaligou exclusively breastfed her daughter for the entire 11 months.” This idiot DIDN’t give their baby other food (although she should start provide some after 6months of EBF). And even if they did, it would be this vegan grass which would lack the nutrients and vitamins as well. They murdered their own child. People like this should be sterilized. Then they can eat whatever they want but they not be able to torture children, making them ill and crippled for the rest of their innocent lives..
Nicole
This article is absolutely ridiculous. I have an exclusively breastfed baby who is extremely healthy and gaining weight at a rate that continuously impresses her medical care provider. If anything, breastfeeding should make you realize how weird and unnecessary it is to drink milk from a cow. My human milk is meant for my human baby just like cows milk is meant for baby cows. Your biased article that makes you feel better about consuming dead animals is a joke.
Sarah Pope MGA
Glad your baby is doing well! The fact is, though, that many babies breastfed by vegans are extremely unhealthy which is why the courts are prosecuting whose babies are suffering harm or worse. Take a look in the mirror … see those 4 pointy canines and strong incisors combined with flat molars? These are omnivore teeth. If humans were carnivore (which we are not), they would be far more pointy like a tiger, but if we were plant eaters like a cow, the teeth would be all flat ended. Your teeth are telling you that your diet is flawed.
stefan
You manipulated this article. From your source – State attorney, Anne-Laure Sandretto, had called for a 10-year sentence against the couple who were convinced they could cure their daughter’s pneumonia with traditional remedies.
However the elder daughter Elodie, 13, was not suffering the same vitamin deficiencies, and other witnesses suggested their rejection of conventional medicine was more of a factor than their diet.
So, this is not because of her diet.
LC
If a human were starving he will eat meat or a protein to survive. If a cow for example, will not eat meat . Do not eat took much or only one kind of food. Humans are omnivores. We know we have little access to good food. Vegans are not wrong for trying to have a healthier diet. It just takes some work time and money which the majority of new caring moms do not have. The message here is it is not easy to get the best nutrition for your baby being a vegan and Breast feeding. Testing Breast milk is expensive. All I’m saying is why test a vegan diet on your baby when a A balanced diet has been tried and true ?
Ponse
Thank you for exposing this vegan insanity. I knew a single lady in her 50s who owned a number of dogs and cats. She was strict vegan and bragged to me that all her pets were fed a “cruelty free vegan diet.” A couple of her dogs died and her cats mysteriously ran away. I can’t imagine forcing your own flesh and blood this inbalanced and incomplete dietary life style