Health care in the Yemen.
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Child Health Services↗
Biomedical subjects
C Ansell
Publications and source records attributed to C Ansell.
Metabolic acidosis and infant feeding.
Most cows' milk based formulae for infant feeding present a greater acid load to the infant than breast milk. To determine the effect of this difference the acid base state of 180 healthy term infants was measured on the sixth day of life and related to the type of feed. Those infants fed on cows' milk formula (SMA) had a mean pH of 7-34 +/- 0-05 and a base deficit of 8-8 +/- 3-1, while those fed on breast milk had a mean pH of 7-38 +/- 0-05 and a base deficit of 5-6 +/- 3-1. The difference between the two groups of infants was significant for both these measurements. Metabolic acidosis was defined as a base deficit greater than 10 mmol/l. Seventy-four per cent of the 34 infants who were acidotic at six days were bottle-fed. There was a significant correlation between the pH of the feed and the degree of acidosis in the infant as measured by the base deficit. The findings suggest that when breast milk is not available a pH-adjusted milk formula would be desirable for preventing and treating neonatal metabolic acidosis.
Acid-Base Equilibrium↗
Electrolyte pH changes in Human Milk.
Milk samples from 100 lactating mothers in the 10 days following delivery have been analyzed for pH, sodium, and potassium. The sodium concentration was high in the first 5 days, mean 21 +/- 5 mmol/liter, but fell to a mean 15 mmol/liter by the end of the first week and 12 mmol/liter by the 10th day. A similar downward trend was shown for potassium with an initial mean concentration of 18.5 mmol/liter falling to 15 mmol/liter by the 10th day. The pH fluctuated widely from day to day through a range of 6.75-7.42 with a mean pH 7.09. Considerable variations were shown in individuals from day to day, and from the beginning to the end of feeds (Table 1). The relatively high sodium concentration in the first few days may be an important defense mechanism against dehydration and hyponatremia during a period of relative thirst and starvation. The variation in the pH and electrolyte content of human milk may be expected to have some influence on the acid-base and electrolyte status of the infant.
Female↗