Establishing demand feeding in hospital

Area of Science:

• Neonatal Care
• Infant Nutrition
• Maternal and Child Health

Background:

• Historically, rigid clock feeding schedules were common in maternity wards.
• This study occurred at John Radcliffe Hospital in the summer of 1975.
• Breastfeeding was prevalent, with 65% of babies observed being breastfed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare infant feeding patterns between demand feeding and clock feeding.
• To assess the impact of introducing demand feeding on ward management.
• To evaluate breastfeeding patterns in newborns under different feeding protocols.

Main Methods:

• Observational study comparing two feeding methods: clock feeding and demand feeding.
• Data collected on infant feeding intervals for 42 breastfed babies before demand feeding.
• Similar data collected for 43 breastfed babies two weeks after demand feeding implementation.

Main Results:

• Demand-fed infants exhibited a wider scatter of interfeed intervals in the first 48 hours post-birth compared to clock-fed infants.
• These differences in feeding intervals diminished by the end of the first week.
• No significant ward management issues arose from the introduction of demand feeding.

Conclusions:

• Demand feeding is a viable and manageable alternative to scheduled feeding for breastfed infants.
• The transition to demand feeding did not disrupt hospital routines.
• Demand feeding has been successfully established as the routine practice in the maternity hospital.