34 No. 4, August-September 1998, pp. A Leader receives a call from a mother whose doctor has told her she must stop breastfeeding because her child has a rare disorder. The mother has never heard of the disease and is heartbroken to learn that she must stop nursing. Medical details often become buried in emotions. This article addresses some of the issues surrounding a mother's decision to breastfeed and how a Leader can present information to her without giving medical advice.
Incorrect diagnosis is another possibility.
In nations with planned national health schemes or public insurance programs, tests are defended because there is great public interest in early detection. While the US has no national policy on neonatal screening, all states individually require that infants be screened for at least PKU and hypothyroidism. Individual states may require other tests or procedures. The test is targeted at identifying infants who, because of a liver enzyme deficiency, cannot metabolize phenylalanine, one of 20 essential amino acids. Without this early identification, PKU infants usually fail to develop normal neural pathways in the central nervous system and brain.