Energy supplementation in the last trimester of pregnancy in East Java, Indonesia: effect on breast-milk output.
Breast-milk output was measured in women who during the last trimester of pregnancy consumed a high- or low-energy supplement (53 and 55 women, respectively). Infant and mother pairs were enrolled at 2 or 6 wk postpartum. Test weighings were done four times at 8-wk intervals. Mean breast-milk output ranged from 682 to 744 g/d in the age period of 2 wk to 7 mo. There was no difference in milk output between the two experimental groups. In all cohorts, breast-feeding frequency influenced milk output positively. Only at age 18-22 wk did the mothers' prepregnancy or 4-wk postpartum body mass index play an additional role. The results confirm that breast-milk output of mildly undernourished women is comparable with that of well-nourished women. Short-term energy supplementation during pregnancy did not increase breast-milk output, probably because the sample studied was not at nutritional risk.
Department of Nutrition, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
W M
WM
van Steenbergen
J A
JA
Kusin
S
S
Kardjati
C
C
de With
D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007774:Lactation; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third