PubMed · 8132278
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R Chandra, B V Bhat, R K Puri. 1993. Why breast feed?. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8132278/
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OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of and risk factors associated with regular water supplementation of neonates. DESIGN: Evaluation of data from the Food and Drug Administration's Infant Feeding Practices Study, a panel study of US women of fairly high socioeconomic status who were followed up from late pregnancy through their infants' first year of life. The sample was drawn from a nationally distributed consumer mail panel. Each mother was asked whether she gave her neonate water at least 3 times per week. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1677 mothers of infants who were neonates in April through November 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percentages of mothers who gave their neonates water at least 3 times a week, considering infant feeding status, mother's education, and family income. RESULTS: About one fourth (24.7%) of the mothers reported giving their neonates water at least 3 times per week. Stratification by feeding practices and socioeconomic factors revealed that 41.6% of mothers who formula-fed their neonates, 47.4% of mothers with less than a high school education, and 35.4% of mothers with an annual family income less than $22,500 gave their neonates water at least 3 times per week. CONCLUSIONS: Water supplementation of neonates was a prevalent practice in this cohort of women. Feeding practices, maternal education, and family income were all significant risk factors associated with this behavior.
To gain a better understanding of the development of sucking behavior in low birth weight infants, the aims of this study were as follows: (1) to assess these infants' oral feeding performance when milk delivery was unrestricted, as routinely administered in nurseries, versus restricted when milk flow occurred only when the infant was sucking; (2) to determine whether the term sucking pattern of suction/ expression was necessary for feeding success; and (3) to identify clinical indicators of successful oral feeding. Infants (26 to 29 weeks of gestation) were evaluated at their first oral feeding and on achieving independent oral feeding. Bottle nipples were adapted to monitor suction and expression. To assess performance during a feeding, proficiency (percent volume transferred during the first 5 minutes of a feeding/total volume ordered), efficiency (volume transferred per unit time), and overall transfer (percent volume transferred) were calculated. Restricted milk flow enhanced all three parameters. Successful oral feeding did not require the term sucking pattern. Infants who demonstrated both a proficiency > or = 30% and efficiency > or = 1.5 ml/min at their first oral feeding were successful with that feeding and attained independent oral feeding at a significantly earlier postmenstrual age than their counterparts with lower proficiency, efficiency, or both. Thus a restricted milk flow facilitates oral feeding in infants younger than 30 weeks of gestation, the term sucking pattern is not necessary for successful oral feeding, and proficiency and efficiency together may be used as reliable indicators of early attainment of independent oral feeding in low birth weight infants.
A prospective cohort study was carried out to determine the factors affecting initiation of breastfeeding, and describe patterns of breastfeeding and supplemental feeding in the multiethnically and culturally diverse population of Al Ain, UAE. Two-hundred-and-twenty-one infants completed the 4 weeks of follow up. None of the mothers opted not to breastfeed, but only 4 per cent of them practiced exclusive breastfeeding during the first month of the infants' life; 51 per cent of them initiated breastfeeding on the first day of life. Factors associated with delayed initiation of breastfeeding beyond the first day of life included low birth weight, complicated delivery, ignorance of the advantages of colostrum, and young maternal age. Non-milk supplements fed to babies included water, tea, juice, yansun, and babunj (local herbal drinks). The preferred method of feeding the supplements was the feeding bottle. There were significant associations between the use of these supplements and the mother's nationality and education.