UK Study: Scheduled Breastfeeding Ideal
By Danell Swim
April 21, 2008
Allowing a baby to choose when it feeds, and for how long, is often recommended to new mothers.
A study of 63 mothers in Bradford found regular feeds of up to 10 minutes on each breast led to increased weight gain and a higher breastfeeding rate.
However, midwives said the method suggested in Archives of Disease in Childhood would not apply to everyone.
The World Health Organization recommends that babies are exclusively breastfed until they are six months old, but only around one in four UK mothers follows that advice.
Feeding gaps
The researchers, led by Dr. Anne Walshaw, a GP, had noticed poor weight gain among breastfed babies after baby-led feeding became more common.
They set up a study at one Bradford GP practice of 63 mothers who exclusively breastfed their babies.
Half were told to feed as and when the baby wanted to, and to offer the second breast only if the baby showed signs of still being hungry.
The rest were advised to feed their babies for a maximum of 10 minutes on each breast around every three hours during the day and, if necessary, at night.
The women in the second group were also told to leave at least two hours between feeds.
Fewer than half of the babies in the baby-led group were still breastfeeding after 12 weeks, compared with over three-quarters of those whose mothers followed the traditional method.
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