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Blood pressure increases in response to feeding in the term neonate
M Cohen1, M Witherspoon, D R Brown
1Department of Pediatrics, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, NJ 07112.
Insights
Newborns show increased blood pressure during feeding, with breast-fed infants exhibiting a more significant rise than bottle-fed infants. These blood pressure changes may impact future health risks.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal physiology
- Cardiovascular regulation in infants
Background:
- Infant feeding practices significantly influence physiological responses.
- Understanding blood pressure and heart rate dynamics during feeding is crucial for neonatal health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cardiovascular responses (blood pressure and heart rate) of newborns during and after feeding.
- To compare these responses between breast-fed and bottle-fed infants.
Main Methods:
- Studied 18 healthy newborns (24-92 hours old).
- Monitored blood pressure and heart rate before, during, and after feeding (breast or bottle).
- Analyzed physiological changes associated with pacifier sucking and feeding.
Main Results:
- Heart rate increased with pacifier sucking but not significantly with feeding itself.
- Blood pressure increased during feeding in both groups.
- Breast-fed newborns showed a significantly greater increase in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to bottle-fed newborns.
Conclusions:
- Feeding elicits a notable blood pressure response in newborns, more pronounced in breast-fed infants.
- These feeding-induced blood pressure changes may have long-term implications for health, including necrotizing enterocolitis risk and adult hypertension.
- Further research is warranted to explore the long-term consequences of these physiological responses.
Abstract:
We studied blood pressure and heart rate of 18 medically well newborn babies before, during, and after feeding. Seven were breast-fed and 11 bottle-fed and all were studied between 24 and 92 hr of age. There was an increase in heart rate associated with sucking on a pacifier but no additional increase with feeding. By 30-60 min after feeding, heart rate had returned to baseline value. Blood pressure, however, did increase in response to feeding and showed a greater increase in the breast-fed group than in the bottle-fed group. Systolic blood pressure rose from 72 mmHg in the basal state to 85 mmHg during the first 3 min of feeding in the bottle-fed babies and from 73 to 99 mmHg during comparable periods in the breast-fed babies. The results for diastolic blood pressure were similar except that changes within the bottle-fed group were not statistically significant. Bottle-fed babies rose only from 42 to 47 mmHg while breast-fed babies rose from 42 to 61 mmHg from basal conditions to feeding. Blood pressure responses to feeding may have implications for susceptibility to necrotizing enterocolitis, for future blood pressure liability in adulthood and for later hypertensive disease.