T A B L E++T A L K

Grandparents who dote, and those who don't. Discuss your kids' relationship with your parents in the Mothers area of Table Talk

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R E C E N T L Y

Ballad of a bohemian childhood
By Maccabee Montandon
Other kids ate Fritos while I munched macrobiotic chips
(06/15/98)

Wax on
By Joan Walsh
A bikini-waxer muses on the fine line between pleasure and pain
(06/11/98)

Second Thoughts
By Sallie Tisdale
We are all criminals
(06/11/98)

Drama Queen Candidates
Mommy dearest -- not!
(06/10/98)

How to ruin your kids' summer vacation
By Kate Moses
Instead of schlepping your kids off to camp, let them do nothing
(06/09/98)

BROWSE THE MOTHERS WHO THINK HOT FLASH ARCHIVES

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Mamafesto
By Camille Peri
Why it's time
for Mothers Who Think

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WHEN A BREAST-FED INFANT DIES FROM
MALNUTRITION, IS THE MOTHER TO BLAME?

BY DAWN MacKEEN | When her baby was hungry, Tatiana Cheeks hushed her, held her close and breast-fed her. Mother's milk and mother's love are two of the most important ingredients in a newborn's life. But in Cheeks' case, these essentials were somehow not enough: She woke one day to find her 6-week-old baby girl, Shanell Coppedge, dead on the couch next to her.

In May, two months after Shanell's death, the Brooklyn Medical Examiner's Office determined that the baby died of malnourishment, weighing only 6 pounds, 5 ounces on the day she died. Law enforcement officials say Cheeks, 21, should have seen the signs that her baby was failing to thrive and arrested her on two counts -- criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter. Her case is now before a grand jury in Brooklyn, according to criminal court officials there.

This is not the first time that a mother has been arrested in the death of a malnourished, breast-fed child. Nineteen-year-old Tabitha Walrond is awaiting trial on the same charge of criminally negligent homicide, after her 2-month-old died under similar circumstances last October in the Bronx. In both cases, relatives of the women say they sought medical attention for their infants but were turned away by clinics. Walrond didn't have insurance and Cheeks, who was on welfare, couldn't pay the $25 clinic fee, according to the New York Times.

These two cases, while unusual, beg the question, can breast-feeding be dangerous? Is mother's milk not always enough? Salon spoke with Dr. Ruth Lawrence, professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and director of the university's Breast-feeding and Human Lactation Studies Center, and Dr. Richard Aubry, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, about these two cases and the questions they raise about young mothers and their ability to breast-feed properly as well as the access poor women have to health care.

Should Tatiana Cheeks be punished because her child was malnourished -- even though she breast-fed?

Dr. Ruth Lawrence: You'd be tempted to say just the opposite. After all, mother's milk is the best thing and not all babies have the privilege of getting it. A mother who goes to the trouble of breast-feeding her baby deserves a lot of credit, especially in contrast to the mother who takes the easy way out and bottle feeds it.

Dr. Richard Aubry: My own feeling is that there are no bad mothers, only bad societal influences. Ms. Cheeks apparently attempted to get medical care and was turned away -- but she was trying. It's crazy to accuse her of somehow not doing the right thing.

We're taught that breast-feeding is the best thing for our babies and then something like this happens. Are there risks associated with breast-feeding that aren't commonly known?

Aubry: Walking across the street has risks, so it would be impossible to say that there aren't risks with breast-feeding. But there's more to it than that. This woman was poor, she tried what she could based on her understanding and couldn't get the help she needed.

Whatever happened, the fact is a baby is dead. Should the mother be prosecuted?

Aubry: My initial reaction was, how dare they prosecute somebody who tried to bring her child to health-care providers and was then turned away? I don't see how anyone could point a finger at this person -- she should be consoled.

Lawrence: On the basis of feeding her baby at the breast and having her baby not do well -- no, she should not be prosecuted. If there is more to the story, if there was more she could have done, then the picture changes.

N E X T+P A G E: Where do we place the blame?