Open AccessUnsupplemented breastfeeding in the maternity ward Positive long‐term effects
Author(s) -
Nylander Gro,
Lindemann Rolf,
Helsing Elisabet,
Bendvold Erik
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.3109/00016349109006211
Subject(s) - medicine , breastfeeding , breast feeding , breast milk , pediatrics , incidence (geometry) , hypoglycemia , intervention (counseling) , lactation , formula feeding , weight gain , obstetrics , pregnancy , body weight , nursing , diabetes mellitus , endocrinology , chemistry , physics , biochemistry , biology , optics , genetics
Feeding routines in the maternity ward were investigated in 204 mother‐infant pairs before and in 203 after a change towards earlier, more frequent breastfeeding and elimination of routine substitute feeds. In the intervention group, the volume of breast‐milk increased, while the use of formula and sugar solution decreased correspondingly. The infants in the intervention group lost more weight during the first 2‐3 days (6.4% versus 4.6%), but regained their birth weight faster than the supplemented control group. The incidence of hyperbilirubinemia was not significantly different in the two groups. No cases of hypoglycemia were diagnosed. At 6 months, 87% of the infants in the intervention group were still fed at the breast, compared with 66% in the control group. The weight curves were comparable up to 9 months, when intervention group infants were found to weigh slightly less. These follow‐up results must be interpreted with some caution due to the low but comparable response rate of the two groups. Thus the intervention study demonstrated that healthy, full‐term infants usually have no need for supplements to their mothers' milk provided they have had a satisfactory start in life with early and frequent feeds at the breast. The follow‐up study indicated that a more “physiological” start of breastfeeding may have had a positive long term effect on the overall duration of the lactational period.