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Breastfeeding promotion: Feeding the low birth weight infant
Author(s) -
Musoke R.N.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/0020-7292(90)90077-x
Subject(s) - medicine , breastfeeding , low birth weight , breast feeding , pediatrics , lactation , bottle , confusion , weight gain , infant feeding , obstetrics , breast milk , pregnancy , body weight , endocrinology , biology , psychology , biochemistry , genetics , psychoanalysis , mechanical engineering , chemistry , engineering
Though there is still some reluctance to use human milk for low birth weight infants, we have shown that it is possible exclusively to feed these infants on milk from their own mothers. The infants have adequate weight gain and are less likely to get infections, especially gastrointestinal and respiratory. It is possible to sustain lactation through manual expression during the period that the mother is not nursing her infant directly on the breast. A cup rather than a bottle can be used to feed these small infants. The mothers are thus encouraged because the infant does not suffer nipple confusion with a bottle and they continue breastfeeding after discharge from the hospital.