Mother's Milk

An apartment's owner,after weeks without any news of the tenants, brought a new couple to see the flat. They noticed some blood stains next to the crib. The lodgers left the place with a big suitcase the last time super saw them. Unfortunately, they had no connection with neighbours but detectives managed to reach the father's parents. Maybe her girlfriend dumped him and he came back to his family. He attended the local church, the priest and a parisher said he was a very quiet guy (despite he had bad temper). His wife (Tessa Ghylin) worked part-time in a video store but they both found it hard to be parents. Who is the bad parent after all? The baby was put in a bag and buried alive in the grandfather's courtyard. Anyway he was previously starved to death, medical examiner said. Breastfeed is the issue.

We see in this episode sometimes a eighteen years old girl couldn't manage to deal with the burden of a child. He drove her crazy, but the husband gave her no support. Defense attorney was a heartless piece of cake, trial didn't progress the way it should have done, but Abbie did very good her job.

Breastfeeding got a bad rap in this episode. Breast is best but it isn't easy to accomplish in a bottlefeeding world. The lactation consultant in this episode was correct that women have breastfed for millennia but she was wrong to insist that this immature and isolated mother do so. The lactation consultant should have known that through "the millennia" many new mothers received plenty of support from the community so that they can concentrate on the breast feeding relationship with baby. The mother in this ep did not have or seek this support and her husband was no help

Also, bottle feeding is no panacea; depressed or detached parents find mixing formula, sanitizing bottles and heating the contents without using the microwave to be a challenge.

As a registered dietitian, a lay breastfeeding counselor in the 1980-90's and former breastfeeding mom myself, I would never make a client sign a contract agreeing to breastfeed at all costs as did the show's counselor. Our goal was to instead enable the mother and family to make an informed decision about the best way to feed their infant. Most of us would have determined that the baby in this episode was doing poorly and the parents were not caring for the infant including feeding How? By counseling new mothers by phone. We also held monthly mothers meetings or pen to mom's, dad's and babies plus speakers about relevant topics. We rarely had parents who seemed to be as unfit as those in this episode but we sometimes had to call the baby's pediatrician or mother's ob gyn.

Today in Pennsylvania, as a health care provider, I would have to report them to the authorities.

Anybody who has read any of my other reviews for for example individual episodes of the 'Law and Order' shows, am slowly working my way through writing reviews for all the episodes of 'Law and Order, 'Special Victims Unit' and 'Criminal Intent' with a long way to go, will know already how much admiration there is from me for anything that tackles difficult and controversial themes and issues. "Mother's Milk" is no exception and is going to hit home for those with newborn children particularly.

Like the previous episode "Collision", "Mother's Milk" has a lot to like and that it tried to tackle this topic is admirable. It however is not a great episode of the season, in a season that had many of them, or 'Law and Order' as a show at its best, and like that episode (though not quite as jarringly) the topic could have been handled with more complexity and tact. There was a great episode somewhere in "Mother's Milk", but it ended up just being good.

Beginning with the flaws, "Mother's Milk" is a little heavy handed and again makes it too clear what side of the topic the writers are on, especially when speaking of breast-feeding in such a negative light (which also has not aged particularly well with attitudes having changed). The defense argument too is on the judgemental side.

Did think that the early portions were nothing out of the ordinary and the conclusion felt rushed and under-explored which made it come over as not realistic.

"Mother's Milk" however has a lot that is good. The production values are typically slick with the right amount of grit, nothing is too fancy or too gimmicky. Nor is anything too static, drab or garish. The music is not too constant or emotionally manipulative, meanig not over-emphasising the emotion to make one think that's how we should be feeling. The direction is accommodating but also has pulse.

While not subtle, the writing is intelligent and taut, leaving one deep in thought. The case is an interesting one and really draws one in in the second half, it is also one that leaves one feel both angry and sad afterwards. The moral dilemmas that come with it are handled well, with the last lines resonating. The acting is very strong, Angie Harmon in particular.

Overall, pretty good but not great. 7/10.

Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin respond to an empty house with no parents and no baby which had been crying considerably. It all ends as one would expect with a dead baby buried in the father's parents backyard.

Leslie Hendrix's autopsy shows starvation. But not like the parents set out with malice aforethought to kill their newborn. For whatever reason the baby was not taking his mother's breast milk. Tessa Ghylin went to nutritionist Lee Brock who is a staunch advocate of exclusive breast feeding. But when the baby rejects mother's milk, what to do.

It is the position of the District Attorney that when all is said and done it is the mother that has the primary responsibility for care of the child. The father should have a hand in this as well which is why Michael C. Williams takes a plea and agrees to testify against his wife. He can as long as no privileged communication is divulged.

Angie Harmon prosecutes this one herself. She fought to have it that way. But she gets thrown a curve when defense attorney Donna Murphy requests for a bench trial before female judge Susan Blommaert. Fortunately the judge happened to be a woman. I know I would feel ill at ease were I a judge in this case with the issues involved.

As to how you might feel watch the episode and discover.