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Estimating the dietary intake of breastfeeding preterm infants

Sarah Greenslade1, Jacqueline Miller2, Emma Tonkin3

  • 1Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Flinders University Adelaide, Adelaide, 5002, South Australia, Australia. gree0385@uni.flinders.edu.au.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
|May 27, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Prescribed feed volumes poorly estimate actual intake in breastfeeding preterm infants. Actual intake varied significantly during breastfeeds, especially in less mature infants.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal nutrition
  • Infant feeding practices

Background:

  • Accurate assessment of milk intake is crucial for the growth and development of preterm infants.
  • Breastfeeding is encouraged for preterm infants, but quantifying intake can be challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the accuracy of prescribed daily feed volumes in estimating actual intake for breastfeeding preterm infants.
  • To characterize the volume of milk consumed during individual breastfeeds across different gestational and postmenstrual ages.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study involving preterm infants (<37 weeks gestation) from two Australian neonatal units.
  • Infants were weighed before and after each breastfeed to measure intake; total intake was compared to prescribed volumes.
  • Bland-Altman analyses were employed to assess agreement between prescribed and actual intake.

Main Results:

  • Fifty-six infants participated, with 206 breastfeeding occasions recorded.
  • A small bias (27 mL/day) was observed, but wide 95% limits of agreement (-76 to 130 mL/day) indicated poor individual accuracy.
  • Volume consumed per breastfeed varied widely (0-101 mL, median 23 mL) and increased with infant maturity.

Conclusions:

  • Prescribed feed volumes have limited clinical utility for estimating individual preterm infant intake.
  • The prescribed volume may be useful for population-level comparisons or group analyses due to small bias.
  • Significant variability in breastfeed volumes necessitates careful monitoring and individualized feeding strategies for preterm infants.
Abstract

Keywords:
breastfeedingdietinfant pretermnutrition assessment

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