The initiation of lactation: the effect of early versus delayed contact for suckling on milk intake in the first week post-partum. A study in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

The effect of reducing the length of routine mother/infant separation following delivery on milk intake in the first week of life was examined prospectively in 22 term infants in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Infants were randomly assigned to two groups: a late contact group (control) who followed routine hospital policy (mean separation between mother and baby 25.1 h), and an early contact group (experimental) in which mother and baby were re-united as soon as possible following standard clinical observations (mean separation after delivery of 3.6 h). Despite a difference of 22.4 in the mean age at which babies in the two groups were first suckled, no experimental difference was found in milk volume transfer over post-partum days 2-5 determined by test weighing at a morning feed with an integrating electronic balance. An observational study was performed concurrently, which showed that early contact group mothers were likely to have given 8 additional breast feeds during the extra 21.5 h they had with their infant.