10/23/2024
Hi all, here's this week's Clinical Question & LactFact!
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LactFact: A recent study confirmed the standard teaching that among mothers of late-preterm and term infants, colostrum volumes are approximately 5 ml/feed day 1, 10ml/feed day 2, and 25ml/feed on day 3.
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What are typical volumes of colostrum in the first few days postpartum?
There is a lack of recent data on colostrum volumes postpartum particularly among term infants. Kato et al’s 2022 study, one of the most recent, found that colostrum volumes were lower in NICU mothers at 24-48 hours compared to 0-24 hours. Surprisingly, multiparous mothers did not express higher volumes than primiparous mothers until after 30 hours.
A new study from India evaluated colostrum volumes expressed on day 1-3 among 391 mothers who gave birth either late preterm or at term with an average gestational age of 38 +/-1.5 weeks.
Mothers with a history of gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, hemorrhage, receipt of medication, or admission to an intensive care unit were excluded. Among the participants, 53.4 were primiparous, 52.2% underwent cesarean birth, and the average age was 27 years.
A lactation counselor visited each mother and asked them to hand express colostrum from both breasts once a day in the morning. No information was provided about the timing of hand expression relative to feeding.
On average, mothers produced 5 ml/session on day 1, 10 ml on day 2, and 25 ml on day 3.
What else? See the question!
Please choose accurate statements based on this study regarding the average volume of colostrum expressed in the morning on days 1-3 postpartum. Choose 1 or more:
A. The mothers who gave birth to term infants hand expressed higher volumes of colostrum compared to the mothers who gave birth to late preterm infants.
B. There was no difference in expressed colostrum volumes between mothers who gave birth vaginally compared to those who gave birth via cesarean.
C. Multiparous women hand expressed higher volumes of colostrum each day compared to primiparous mothers.
Read the answer here: https://lacted.org/questions/colostrum-volumes/
