The yield and nutrient content of colostrum and milk of women from giving birth to 1 month post-partum

Abstract

1. The intake of mammary secretion from delivery to day 5 post-partum was determined by test-weighing nine infants using an integrating electronic balance. The mean yield of colostrum for the first 24 h after birth was 37.1 (range 7.0–122.5) g and was 408 (range 98.3–775) and 705.4(range 452.5–876)g/24h on days 3 and 5 post-partum respectively.2. The milk yield of mothers on either day 14 or 28 post-partum was determined by test-weighing the mother. The mean milk yield was 1.156 (SD 0.167) kg/24 h.3. A significant correlation (P < 0.001; r 0.85, n 42) was found between milk yield measured by test-weighing the infant and milk yield measured by test-weighing the mother, confirming that it is possible to obtain a similar estimate of milk consumed using either of the two methods of test-weighing4. There was a significant positive correlation (P < 0.001) between lactose concentration and milk yield for the first 5 d post-partum (r 0.76, n 22); a significant negative correlation (P < 0.001) between protein concentration and milk yield (r – 0.74, n 22) and no significant correlation between fat concentration and milk yield for the period studied.5. The calculated energy intake of infants during the first 24 h after birth was only 0.12 (range 0.02–0.29) mJ. This increased to 1.44 (range 0.83–2.18) and 2.99 (range 2.49–4.06) mJ/24 h by days 3 and 14–28 post-partum respectively.