title: Physiological weight loss chart helps to identify high-risk infants who need breastfeeding support.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Healthy, full-term, exclusively breastfed infants are expected to lose weight in the first days after birth, but experts disagree about what constitutes a physiological neonatal weight loss and there is a lack of evidence-based data. Our study aimed to construct a centile chart of neonatal weight loss in a healthy population of exclusively breastfed term neonates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied all infants born at an Italian centre that focused on natural childbirth from April 2007 to December 2012 and who complied with World Health Organization guidance on infant feeding. The infants' weight loss was recorded after 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 h of life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 1760 healthy, full-term, singleton babies born by vaginal delivery. Their mean weight loss was 5.95 ± 1.73%, 72.2% had maximal weight loss before discharge, only 3.9% lost more than 9% of their birthweight, and no infant lost more than 10%. We measured the percentage weight change from birth and each time the infant was examined, summarising how their weight varied in the first 72 h of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our normative chart of physiological weight loss provided an important instrument for identifying high-risk infants who required breastfeeding support.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, FARBA Department, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bertini
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, FARBA Department, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Breschi
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, FARBA Department, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dani
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D057238:Growth Charts; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Breastfeeding; Growth charts; Newborn; Weight loss