New parents Maatkari and Amenemhet TaMerry are calling for a change in the law after being reported to the Ministry of Health over the care of their baby.

They want legislation altered so that a second doctor's opinion is required before the Child and Family Services Department is officially notified of any concerns and take action.

The couple is taking legal advice following an alleged two-month dispute with a consultant over whether or not their daughter A-Mya should have been breast- or bottle-fed.

They admitted that their daughter had lost a lot of weight soon after birth on May 1 because of problems they had breast-feeding her.

When she was born, she weighed in at six pounds and four ounces.

However, by May 17, the baby's weight had plummeted to four pounds, 12 ounces.

The couple, who are vegetarians, said once they had discovered the cause of the weight-loss and corrected their technique, they wanted a couple of weeks to continue breast feeding to restore A-Mya's condition. And slowly, it did begin to increase.

They claimed they visited two other paediatricians and saw a number of nurses, who regularly weighed the baby.

And the newly-weds said they continued to ignore the consultant's advice, claiming that their baby was gaining weight and did not need to be bottle-fed.

But, as a result of their failure to comply with the advice, they were referred to Child and Family Services.

The couple, of Club Road, Harrington Sound, said, despite their daughter's gradual weight gain, the matter finally came to a head on June 8 when they allege five Police officers arrived at their home with a court order to apprehend the child.

However, after driving straight to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the officers and gaining a second opinion from another consultant, Dr. and Mrs.

TaMerry said they were allowed to take their daughter home on the understanding that regular weight checks continued to be made.

Yesterday, dentist Dr. TaMerry, who was formerly known as Clark Godwin, said he wanted Health Minister Nelson Bascome to hold an inquiry into their case and look at the possibility of changing legislation.

The 44-year-old father said: "We have been to a lawyer and have written to the Health Ministry and are now waiting to see what the Minister does.

"An inquiry should take place and hopefully some new proposals will be drawn up.

"I am a doctor and I know that if you have concerns about the welfare of a child it is your duty to report them. We did not agree with the doctor and only asked for a second opinion and more time to get her weight back up. We do not like the way the Child and Family Services reacted to the complaint.

"They got on the defensive straight away. We feel they should have checked things out more and got second and third opinions. We can't believe this thing went as far as it did. People have to know.'' Mrs. TaMerry, 32, said she had been sick with worry since the problems started and blamed stress caused by the fiasco for the difficulties she experienced producing milk.

She added: "This was supposed to be a very special time for us to enjoy the birth of our first born.

"But we have been sick with worry. I thought somebody was going to come and take my baby.

"We are responsible parents and we love A-Mya very much. She is putting on weight and is a very healthy little girl.

"I hope now we can begin to get on with our lives.'' Attorney Kim White, who is acting for the consultant concerned, said there would be no comment made at this time, except to say that if allegations against the doctor were repeated, legal action would be taken.

And Health Minister Mr. Bascome was also restrained in his comments.

He said he had received correspondence from Mr. and Mrs. TaMerry in a diary form, outlining their sequence of events, but he said there was no request for any kind of action.

He said: "The family needs to write a letter stating what they are requesting. I have not been requested to do anything so far.

"But it looks as though it may be a legal matter. If that is the case, it will be referred to the Attorney General's chambers.''