Relationships between maternal nutritional status, quantity and composition of breast milk in Egypt

Salwa M. Soliman ¹, Abdelmohsen M. Soliman^2*, Mohamed S. Bakr³

¹Food Sciences and Nutrition Department

²Therapeutic Chemistry Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

³Pediatric Department, Al Sahel Teaching Hospital, Cairo, Egypt

Corresponding author Email: solimanmohsen@yahoo.com

Accepted 04 March, 2014

Abstract

The relationships between maternal nutritional status and volume and composition of mother’s milk and its reflection on the infant were studied in fifty seven mothers, attending in child Welfare Clinic IN Ain Shams University Hospital and El Sahel Teaching Hospital. Two sets of analysis were performed. The first one was to assess the production of milk of moderately nourished mothers. The second one was undertaken to determine whether changes in nutritional status within individual woman affected their milk production. Mother and infant anthropometric measures were recorded monthly through the first 4 months of location. The amount of milk, fat, lactose and protein concentrations were measured by test weighing method, Gerber method, gravimetric method and micro-Kjeldahl method respectively. The metabolic energy concentration of milk specimen was calculated. The present study showed that milk production increased gradually through the time of the study. Milk, fat and protein concentration showed gradual decrease with increasing infant age, while lactose concentration showed progressive increase. The positive effects of breast feeding on the health of infants have been increasingly recognized, particularly for those in developing countries. Concurrently, interest in factors that influence the production of milk of mothers from less privileged countries has been of particular concern because a sizable portion of these women are marginally nourished or at times frankly undernourished. Conclusion: The quantity and quality of milk produced by mothers studied, considering their level of under nutrition were remarkably good, with milk amount and energy concentration only mildly less than well nourished mothers.

Keywords: maternal nutrition, Breast milk, anthropometric measures