New mothers put babies in danger by mistakes in bottle feeds

Published on Monday 13 July 2009 22:00

NEW mothers who bottle-feed could be putting their baby's health at risk due to mistakes with formula, researchers said.

Errors include too high concentration of formula, changing brands and the timing of feeds, they said.

This can lead to examples of "overfeeding" which can cause obesity, while babies who do not receive enough formula milk risk being undernourished.

Researchers found that a lack of information and support for bottle-feeding mothers was contributing to the problem.

A review of studies involving more than 13,000 mothers found many felt guilty for bottle-feeding and neglected by the health service.

Some new mothers thought they were a failure for bottle-feeding or were angry about not being able to breastfeed.

Others thought midwives were more interested in helping breastfeeding mothers than those who used bottles, the experts found.

The research, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood journal, involved 23 studies.

Experts led by a team from the University of Cambridge looked for common themes emerging from the studies.

They noted that mothers did not receive enough information about bottle-feeding, owing to the fact breastfeeding is promoted as being best for baby.

"The WHO/Unicef code on infant feeding discourages active dissemination of information on bottle-feeding during the antenatal period, but permits postnatal advice and instruction on bottle-feeding only after the mother has decided to bottle-feed," the study said.

"However, several mothers expressed a desire to be able to make fully informed choices in advance."

The researchers noted one UK study which highlighted how some midwives mistakenly thought they were forbidden from giving advice to bottle-feeding mothers, even after the baby was born.

The researchers also warned: "When women do not get information from healthcare professionals, they are reliant on friends and family, and incorrect practices are likely to be handed down from one generation to the next."