Irish Wedding News
15/05/2013
NHS guide lines say women should exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of a child’s life, however the latest study has found that a combination of formula milk and breast milk can help both the mother and baby persevere with breastfeeding.
The research found that 79% of babies who were fed formula milk alongside breast milk in the first few days of life were still breastfeeding three months later. This is in contrast to 42% of babies who did not receive the milk formula and were still being breastfed at three-months-old.
Using the findings, the study suggests that if new mothers feel able to give their babies some formula milk alongside breast milk they are more likely to persevere with breastfeeding. It was also thought that a number of women were giving up on breastfeeding because they are worried they are not producing enough milk.
Researchers at the University of California analysed 40 underweight babies aged between two-days-old and four-days-old for the study. The babies were randomly assigned either early limited formula (ELF), which consisted of one-third of a pound of infant formula, followed by breastfeeding, or breast milk alone. The formula was stopped after a few days when the mothers began producing mature milk. After a week, all the babies in both groups were still breastfeeding, but only one in ten of the ELF babies had been given formula in the last 24 hours, compared with half of the control group.
Three months later, it was found the ELF babies were almost twice as likely to still receive breast milk.
Dr Valerie Flaherman, at the University of California, San Francisco, said: "Formula use has the potential to be a slippery slope to breastfeeding discontinuation, but ELF is a different way to envision using it.
"Rather than giving full bottles of formula that make it hard for the baby to return to the breast, ELF is a small amount of supplementation with a clear end point that alleviates some of the stress new mothers feel about producing enough milk."
Despite the latest report, critics remained cautious about the results.
Dr James Taylor, of the University of Washington Medical Center’s Newborn Nursery, explained: "The results of this study are provocative and challenge conventional wisdom.
"It is crucial that we have more randomised controlled trials on interventions to increase breastfeeding rather than relying on heavily confounded observational studies or biased expert opinion."
(JP/MH)
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Report Questions 'Breast Is Best' Feeding
A controversial new study has found feeding underweight newborns formula milk, alongside breast milk, can help mothers to breastfeed for longer, the Daily Mail has said.NHS guide lines say women should exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of a child’s life, however the latest study has found that a combination of formula milk and breast milk can help both the mother and baby persevere with breastfeeding.
The research found that 79% of babies who were fed formula milk alongside breast milk in the first few days of life were still breastfeeding three months later. This is in contrast to 42% of babies who did not receive the milk formula and were still being breastfed at three-months-old.
Using the findings, the study suggests that if new mothers feel able to give their babies some formula milk alongside breast milk they are more likely to persevere with breastfeeding. It was also thought that a number of women were giving up on breastfeeding because they are worried they are not producing enough milk.
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Researchers at the University of California analysed 40 underweight babies aged between two-days-old and four-days-old for the study. The babies were randomly assigned either early limited formula (ELF), which consisted of one-third of a pound of infant formula, followed by breastfeeding, or breast milk alone. The formula was stopped after a few days when the mothers began producing mature milk. After a week, all the babies in both groups were still breastfeeding, but only one in ten of the ELF babies had been given formula in the last 24 hours, compared with half of the control group.
Three months later, it was found the ELF babies were almost twice as likely to still receive breast milk.
Dr Valerie Flaherman, at the University of California, San Francisco, said: "Formula use has the potential to be a slippery slope to breastfeeding discontinuation, but ELF is a different way to envision using it.
"Rather than giving full bottles of formula that make it hard for the baby to return to the breast, ELF is a small amount of supplementation with a clear end point that alleviates some of the stress new mothers feel about producing enough milk."
Despite the latest report, critics remained cautious about the results.
Dr James Taylor, of the University of Washington Medical Center’s Newborn Nursery, explained: "The results of this study are provocative and challenge conventional wisdom.
"It is crucial that we have more randomised controlled trials on interventions to increase breastfeeding rather than relying on heavily confounded observational studies or biased expert opinion."
(JP/MH)
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