QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Albernaz, E. Articles by Coward, W. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Albernaz, E. Articles by Coward, W. A.

---

Nutritional Epidemiology

Lactation Counseling Increases Breast-Feeding Duration but Not Breast Milk Intake as Measured by Isotopic Methods¹

Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Departamento de Medicina Social, Fragata, 96090-700-Pelotas, RS, Brazil and ^* MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Cambridge, CB1 9NL, UK

²To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zanrebla{at}terra.com.br.

The importance of exclusive breast-feeding in the first 6 mo of life is widely recognized, but most mothers still do not reach this goal. Several studies have shown that face-to-face lactation counseling is effective in increasing not only exclusive breast-feeding rates but also the total duration of breast-feeding. However, it is unclear whether counseling could increase breast milk intake. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of lactation counseling on breast milk intake, assessed through the deuterium dilution method. This was a blind, randomized intervention trial of lactation counseling in a sample of 188 babies born in Pelotas, selected with the same criteria used for the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS). The main outcomes were breast-feeding pattern and duration for all infants as well as breast milk intake for a subsample of 68 infants at the age of 4 mo. Mothers in the control group were almost twice as likely to stop breast-feeding by 4 mo as those in the intervention group (prevalence ratio 1.85; P = 0.04). Cox regression confirmed that the velocity of weaning was twice as high in the control group. Breast milk and total water intakes did not differ between the groups. The deuterium dilution technique proved to be a practical means of assessing breast milk intake. Lactation counseling reduced early weaning, but breast milk intake at 4 mo was not affected.

KEY WORDS: • human milk • breast-feeding • promotion • infant • deuterium dilution method

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Hopkinson and M. Konefal Gallagher Assignment to a Hospital-Based Breastfeeding Clinic and Exclusive Breastfeeding Among Immigrant Hispanic Mothers: A Randomized, Controlled Trial J Hum Lact, August 1, 2009; 25(3): 287 - 296. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. Galpin, C. Thakwalakwa, J. Phuka, P. Ashorn, K. Maleta, W. W. Wong, and M. J. Manary Breast Milk Intake Is Not Reduced More by the Introduction of Energy Dense Complementary Food than by Typical Infant Porridge J. Nutr., July 1, 2007; 137(7): 1828 - 1833. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. E Moore, A. M Prentice, W A. Coward, A. Wright, E. A Frongillo, A. J. Fulford, A. P Mander, L.-A. Persson, S. E Arifeen, and I. Kabir Use of stable-isotope techniques to validate infant feeding practices reported by Bangladeshi women receiving breastfeeding counseling Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, April 1, 2007; 85(4): 1075 - 1082. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]