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
I have compiled statements from scores of well known docs around the world that a vegan diet for a baby/toddler is nothing short of child abuse. I learned it the hard way with my baby and her sick vegan mother. I will attempt to prove it as child abuse. I only need a judge or two to agree. All of the vegans I’ve come across seem to have very very low IQs. To lend a hand to them, child abuse is bad and is criminal.
Peter
Ok, thanks 🙂
I give my 3 children 1 tsp per day and have for years even when they were toddlers.
I’m not sure if this applies to vegans or just vegetarians but apparently in India people can get B12 by accidentally eating insects, rodent droppings and human manure which have ended up in their food. However because of human hygiene these sources of B12 aren’t as common.
I don’t want to take sides, but I thought I would share my story. I wanted to try a whole foods/ plant based diet. I did a lot of research before I started and made sure we would be getting adequate amounts of everything we needed. I bought beans and tofu and plenty of the other items that were suggested. Well, 2 weeks in and my 4 month old, breastfed son got horrible cramps and constipation… due to this diet. Apparently, the protein isn’t the same and a baby needs it. A lack of it can actually hinder brain development. The first thing I did was eat a hot dog. My baby is more important than my diet!
Well, did you REEAAALLY do it all? Did you take B12-supplement? Did you get DHA and EPA Omega3 (From algae oil)? Did you eat all the essential amino acids?
There are no “right proteins”.. The fact you write this proves how little you know. The thing that matters is getting all the essential amino acids, which you can from a vegan diet as well.
Hi
I live in Europe where this happened and the case you mention was a neglect case which had many other aspects to it other than the parents being vegan. The baby was over 11 months and had not had solid foods introduced to the diet (usually a combination of breastmilk and solids are recommended from 6 months). The baby was suffering from bronchitus at 9 months old and a doctor advised she was taken to hospital, but the parents refused and tried their own alternative treatments at home instead. Their lawyer said: ‘”They preferred to use recipes [treatment] based on clay or cabbage poultices that they got from their books,” It was the fact they failed to get medical help when needed that led to the death of the baby NOT the fact she was breastfed. This led the bronchitus to develop into pneumonia which was the cause of death.
Unfortunately the media has sensationalised this story to emphasise the alternative nature of the parents’ lifestyle and to raise controversy about breastfeeding. This has led the story to picked up by those who are anti-breastfeeding and anti-vegan.
All parents need to follow medical advise if their baby is ill regardless of whether they are breastfed or fed artificially. It was the parents’ failure to do this which led to the tragedy.
I’d say the neglect came from failure to act. The mother MUST have known there was something wrong with her child prior to death.
Both my pregnancies were vegan. My two children were born at 8 pound 9; and 10 pounds respectively. I gained 20 pound with both of them. There is certainly nothing wrong with their brains – l, and they are very healthy.
However l have always made sure they have been monitored under a paediatrician.
It just takes a little thought and research, if you want to do it right – and l expect the health of your children, and of yourself for the sake of your children, would be extraordinarily important to those concerned about their environments, the welfare of animals and their own nutrition.
Just a side note, my gynaecologist has strongly recommended a home birth for my third child. The reason? Maternity wards in hospitals are being very much taken up with – not drug addicted, or alcoholic mothers (as l’d have thought_ – but obese mothers. These mothers are, according to him, giving birth to extremely malnourished, small babies – and the mother is suffering from many ailments herself. Both mother and baby are spending far longer in hospital than their healthier counterparts….My point? An irresponsible, negligent diet, is an irresponsible, negligent diet – regardless whether or not one chooses to eat meat.
If anyone bothered to read the article to the end, you would see that the baby had been suffering from bronchitis and losing weight for 3 months. They had seen a doctor who referred them to the hospital, the parents refused, refused antibiotics, and instead made home remedies for the baby. The baby probably died due to complications of the bronchitis. If any one else has ever had a sick baby, then you should know that sick babies don’t like to eat….especially sick babies who can’t breathe very well.
The parents vegan diet is, clearly, NOT to blame. The fact that they refused to seek treatment for a very sick little baby is. NEGLEGENT, yes, but not because they are vegan.