The Newborn Stomach Size Myth: It is NOT 5-7 ml
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Motherhood is not just a new phase in your life but also a phase when you have a new life which is entirely dependent on you. If you are an expectant mother, now is the time to read more and prepare yourself well ahead. This will guide through the physically challenging and emotionally overwhelming post-delivery phase.
Internet is the most instantly-available friend of today’s generation of expecting mothers, who try to look out for answers to the umpteen queries rising in their mind. Remember, not every piece of online information is backed by authentic research.
Is The Stomach Size 5-7 ml – Not Really
The stomach size of a newborn has long been considered as the sole factor that should determine the feeding requirements. However, many veteran nurses and medical experts will tell you it is not so. It is the weight of the baby and the fluid loss which actually decide the intake requirements.
Let us first bust the myth surrounding stomach size of an infant. When you surf through the online sources, you will come across several images, which try to compare the stomach size of an infant with that of marbles and other small ball sizes. There is actually no concrete evidence to support this 5-7 ml theory.
According to a research by Bergman NJ (1), the capacity of the stomach of a newborn infant is 20 ml and not 5-7 ml. This only raises concerns about the practises being followed by the medical world at present. The requirement of a newborn baby, who is exclusively breastfed, is more than 5 -7 millilitres of colostrum. Besides, even if the clinical experts go by the myth of 5 -7 ml, why are they feeding more to the newborns when on the other hand the mothers are taught to breastfeed far lesser? By doing so, we are limiting the child’s feeding requirements, which can lead to hypoglycaemia and starvation.
Calorie Needs & Colostrum
The average calorie count of breast milk and formula milk is almost the same, which comes to twenty calories for an ounce. Colostrum is nothing but the first breast milk, which is full of natural antibodies. Per ounce, it has 17 calories.
On a daily basis, a newborn baby weighing average 3 kg needs 300 calories per day. His/her fluid requirement is 300 millilitres on a daily basis. The calorie needs may be higher for premature and weaker babies at birth.
However, veterans who have umpteen nursing experiences, say there is very limited research on the subject and hence it is difficult to attribute a fixed quantity. A mother should go by the signs of satisfaction the baby gives and not merely by research numbers.
How Frequently to BreastFeed?
It is difficult to stick to bookish knowledge in such matters. If your baby weighs around 3 kg at birth, he/she has a stomach size of 20 ml. The infant requires about 40 ml of breastfeed or formula milk every two hours. But there is no hard and fast rule in nursing and motherhood. Every infant is different and has different food requirements. If the baby cries even after breastfeeding, you need to get him/her medically examined. This will reveal if starvation is the reason.
The medical world is ever changing. One cannot stick to age-old theories and beliefs. You need to constantly update your knowledge based on both new research and at the same time experiences of veterans in the field. A newborn is completely dependent on his/her mother and caretakers. Insufficient feeding can cause starvation and also has long-lasting consequences on the overall health of the growing child.
Above all, what should be an important practice for any mother is to go by what your baby is trying to tell you rather than blindly follow the rule book.
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