One Mom Speaks out About Breastfeeding After Her Infant Son Dies of Starvation

On what would be her son's fifth birthday, one mom is speaking out about the dangers of [...]

By Libby Birk

baby-landon
(Photo: Facebook / Baby Landon)

On what would be her son's fifth birthday, one mom is speaking out about the dangers of breastfeeding.

Jillian Johnson gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Landon via emergency C-section five years ago. Landon was born in a "baby-friendly" hospital, which means the hospital is geared toward encouraging moms to breastfeed their children.

Despite lactation experts telling Johnson that Landon "had a great latch and was doing fine," the newborn cried constantly, unless he was on Johnson's breast.

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The consultants told Johnson that Landon was on her breast because he was "cluster feeding." In a blog post for Fed Is Best, Johnson says she remembered learning about cluster feeding during all the prenatal classes she had taken.

"Being a first time mom, I trusted my doctors and nurses to help me through this – even more so since I was pretty heavily medicated from my emergency c-section and this was my first baby."

"But I was wrong," she said. "I've learned I have to be my child's number one advocate."

Landon was losing weight every day, even though his wet and dirty diapers showed all the signs that he was eating enough. One specialist noted that Johnson might be having trouble producing milk due to PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), but after evaluating Johnson and Landon, her team decided for Landon to continue exclusively breastfeeding.

After three days in the hospital, Johnson and Landon were discharged. "So we took him home," Johnson wrote, "not knowing that after less than 12 hours home with us, he would have gone into cardiac arrest caused by dehydration."

baby-landon1
(Photo: Facebook / Baby Landon)

After Johnson and her husband found Landon unresponsive, pulseless and blue after falling asleep cluster feeding, they called 911. Landon was rushed to the hospital, where after intense intervention, he regained a pulse. He was then placed on life support, where he spent 15 days before passing away after it was decided that his prognosis was too poor to sustain him.

"The best advice I was given by one of his NICU doctors while he was on life support is sure breast is best, but follow with the bottle," Johnson said.

Five years later, Johnson is still dealing with the endless guilt and questions what her life would look like now if she had just known to give Landon a bottle.

"I still have many, many days of guilt and questions – what if I would've just given him a bottle? And anger because how would I have known. [...] But I didn't know. I should've known. I still struggle daily feeling as though I failed him."

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