The continuous measurement of milk intake at a feed in breast-fed babies.

ABSTRACT

A method for the continuous measurement of milk intake during a breast-feed is described. A miniature Doppler ultrasound flow transducer, located in the tip of a latex nipple shield, is interposed between mother and baby during feeding. Preliminary results indicate the scope and current limitations of the method in terms of both populations and individual mother/infant pairs. An initial analysis of individual feeds indicates that two factors may contribute to the curtailment of intake during a feed from one breast a progressive reduction in intake volume per suck, and/or an increase in the proportion of time spent pausing between bursts of sucking.