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Sucking behaviour and milk intake in jaundiced neonates
1Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital of South Manchester, U.K.
Insights
Newborn infants with hyperbilirubinemia showed increased milk intake and sucking parameters during early feeding. However, disinterest in feeds, not milk intake, correlated with higher bilirubin levels.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Clinical Pediatrics
Background:
- Hyperbilirubinemia is common in newborns.
- Early feeding and sucking behavior are crucial for infant health.
- Understanding the relationship between feeding and bilirubin levels is important.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between nutritive sucking, milk intake, and hyperbilirubinemia in healthy newborns.
- To assess changes in sucking parameters and milk consumption during the first week of life.
- To determine if feeding behavior correlates with serum bilirubin levels.
Main Methods:
- Studied 27 healthy newborns with hyperbilirubinemia from day 2 to 6 of life.
- Assessed nutritive sucking (rate, duration, pressure) and milk intake via daily test feeds.
- Correlated feeding parameters with serum bilirubin levels and clinical observations of infant alertness.
Main Results:
- Milk consumption and sucking duration/pressure significantly increased from day 2 to 6.
- Sucking rate remained constant with age; sucking time/pressure correlated with milk intake.
- Serum bilirubin showed no correlation with daily milk intake or feeding parameters.
- Hyperbilirubinemia correlated with infant disinterest in feeds, but not impaired milk intake.
Conclusions:
- Newborns demonstrate improved feeding efficiency in the first week.
- Infant disinterest in feeding, rather than reduced intake, is linked to hyperbilirubinemia.
- Early feeding assessments are valuable for monitoring newborns with jaundice.
Abstract:
Twenty seven healthy newborn infants who developed hyperbilirubinaemia during the first week of life were investigated by daily test feeds between the second and sixth days of life. Nutritive sucking was assessed by measurement of rate, duration and pressure of sucking and by clinical observation. Milk consumption, duration and pressure of sucking all showed a significant increase during the period of study. Sucking rate did not vary with age. Significant correlation of sucking time and sucking pressure with milk intake were observed. Serum bilirubin levels showed no correlation with milk consumption on each day of the study or with the pooled data of feeding parameters when compared independently of post-natal age. Hyperbilirubinaemia was significantly correlated with the infants who appeared disinterested in feeds when assessed by clinical observations of apparent hunger and alertness at the onset of the test feed. However, milk intake was not impaired in these infants.