Gray-Donald K, Kramer MS, Munday S, Leduc DG. Effect of formula supplementation in the hospital on the duration of breast-feeding: a controlled clinical trial.
Pediatrics 1985;
75:514-8. [PMID:
3883306]
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Abstract
To avoid methodologic pitfalls in previous observational studies linking formula supplementation in the hospital to early discontinuation of breast-feeding, a controlled clinical trial of restricted supplementation was conducted. In a pretrial sample of 621 newborns, a comparison of two "well-baby" nurseries found no differences in either hospital supplementation practices or the proportion of infants still being breast-fed at 4 or 9 weeks postpartum. Restriction of supplementation in one of the nurseries for the trial period (n = 781) did not result in higher breast-feeding rates at 4 or 9 weeks. There was, however, a slightly greater mean percent of birth weight lost in the restricted group (6.0% v 5.1%; P less than .001). In examining the control group for evidence of an "observational" association, it was found that infants still breast-feeding at 4 or 9 weeks were far more likely to have been unsupplemented than those no longer being breast-fed. It thus appears that formula supplementation in the hospital is a marker, rather than a cause, of breast-feeding difficulty.
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