BREASTFEEDING: WHAT WEIGHT LOSS SHOULD BE EXPECTED?

Key words: Newborn, Breastfeeding, Neonatal weight loss, Dehydration, Supplementation, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative

Aim - Among the “Ten steps to successful breastfeeding” the sixth one suggests “Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated”. This paper aims at answering the following questions: how long and in which way is it possible to adopt exclusive breastfeeding?
Materials and methods - A group of 300 full-term, healthy and normal weight newborn infants were monitored with regard to weight loss by assessing their weight during the hospital stay and two days after dismissal.
Result - The average weight loss was 6.3% from birth weight; a weight loss higher than 10% was found in 4.3% of the observed newborn infants; the greatest weight loss was 12.8%. Two days after dismissal 92.3% of the observed infants had increased their weight of an average of 3.2%; 13.3% had regained their birth weight. None of the observed newborn infants was in need of hospitalization because of dehydration, neonatal jaundice or hypoglycaemia.
Conclusions - In order to prevent excessive weight loss in newborn infants an early start of breastfeeding, frequent nursing (8-12 per day) along with controlled hospital dismissal and early check up (48 hours after dismissal) are needed. In this way it is possible to rapidly assess and identify newborns with problems of low milk supply and take action when the hydration level is still uncritical. Supporting the starting of breastfeeding does not require relevant technical and financial resources but rather organisational efforts, and a great deal of patience and commitment.