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
This baby died from the parents neglecting to treat the infant for bronchitis. They attempted to treat at home with natural methods and by the time they did call for help it was to late. Formula fed babies get bronchitis all the time. Some even die from it to. But I bet they don’t do a break down of vitamins and nutrients on those babies. So the baby was deficit in Vit A and B12! I know tons of people are! These parents were judged because they exclusively breastfed and had a diet different from the “norm”!
The message that people should be taking from this article is that if you’re breast feeding, you need to make sure you are getting enough vitamins! If you can’t do that, or for some reason (it happens sometimes) your baby is not thriving on breast milk, then you need to switch to formula. This has NOTHING to do with the baby not having solid food. NOTHING. No baby needs solids before 12m.
This couple were actually Fruitarian. While this is done healthfully by some, you’d better know what you’re doing. Implying that this & a less restrictive Vegan diet are the same is misleading. The Mother was so distraught afterwards she took her own life. To use tragedy in this context, at the expense of the family is really pretty wrong.
I say hell yes they should be charged with Murder!!!!! I am positive that they were informed by her gynocolist during pregnancy and most likely the hospital too that she would have to do something (either supplement some formula or take extra b12 and A vitamins or just eat some meat) to ensure her child’s health. She knowingly did not do so and murdered that poor baby! How long did that baby suffer malnutrition due to her arrogance before dieing. To say nothing should be done to the mother is beyond unacceptable in my opinion. How she eats is her business but she should NEVER have done this to her child, knowing full well the health risks!!!!!!!
Let’s think about this logically here, some people are just stupid, plain and simple! Take people back a few 100 thousand years and what did most people eat…PLANTS!! That was basically all there was for them to eat! Yes they hunted and if they were lucky and actually caught something they would eat meat but most of the time the lived from the women gathered, plants. It’s sad that this happened as it was very preventable but let’s not forget there are A LOT of stupid people in the world, many which should NOT be allowed to have kids, yet such is life!!
I cannot believe the mother was only charged with neglect&5yrs for depriving her child of enough nutrients to take his life,at 11mts old he should have been started at least at 6mts on solid foods,a child growing like that needs more then milk,and it isnt fair for the parents to push their diet on the child so you dont eat meat,you make that decision for our child as well ? its wrong and of course it is their fault,how would you not see your chlld getting sick,theres no possible way they didnt see their child getting sick¬ thriving like a noraml child should,this child should have been taken in long before this and it could have been prevented and what happened to check ups? I have a 2&3yr old and i had monthly check ups until 12mts,then it went ot every 6mts,why woudlnt the doctor not report having this child in for the required check ups,they check weight,they check their skills,they check everything so if hwe was being brought in this would have been detected,i dont think just a neglect charge is sufficient for depriving your child so severely that he lost his life
but if the mother decided to rip that baby apart she would even have had doctors help her, (abortion) . how I HATE the double standard of our society. “oh we must care for the babies, take care of the kids” when people stand up for the rights of babies a bit younger then others, we are told to shut up. HYPOCRICY
This is tragic.. but the govt. should not charge… don’t you think the parents are grieving enough already..
The problem today is, all the new books. The crazed people who say that spanking and yelling causes dis orders and anxiety. And now this whole meat is horrible for the human body. The new parent books need to be tossed…. This is new stuff. My parents, their parents did just fine, it’s these new 21st century parents who think they know best because they picked up the newest child rearing book at their convenient whole foods market. Healthy is fine and dandy, however, a newborn/ infant need different nutrients than an adult. I honestly think this new “fad/trend” of new feeding without any animal products what sever is the whole problem of why people are more sick now than ever. The folks who are falling for this natrual way to go are gullible and ignorant. Your body needs fruits and vegetables and meats, or you are taking supplements… So you might as well set aside your personal wants and values and make sure your babies and children get what THEIR bodies need in order to grow up healthy. And let them decide if they want to jump on the fruits and veggie diet wagon. People who are malnourished get more sick despite meat intake or not. Meat does not specifically cause certain diseases, it “might” contribute in some people but it is not definite.
First of all shame on you all for your judgmental commentaries unless anyone here has their P HD in medicine.and is a nutritionist, your internet research can suck it. THe parents just lost their child and that’s sad, but the biggest part you are all missing is clearly there was deficiency and the baby needed supplements. The parents failed to seek medical attention for their child! So they failedto get their child help or they had some kind of mental issue preventing them from sayong hey, baby is sick he needs help let’s take him to the doc and listen to what the doctor says. So whether the deficiency is from the diet or not is truly irrelevant!! It’s more about why the hell did these people not.take care of their sick child?!?! If you read the bathrooms from these deficiencies they present themselves and are hard to ignore! So hi one cares about your dietary debate and mid slinging and judging. I feel bad for these people that they were so ignorant.and have e lost their child. I pray for that poor baby