Hello,
with this years theme of World Breastfeeding 
Week being the first hour of life, we have 
thought about what we as AFS 
(Arbeitsgemeinschaft Freier Stillgruppen) 
could tell mothers about the feeding of the 
newborn.
There seems to be good agreement on the 
physiological amount of food per meal for the 
newborn ( 
<www.mch.dhs.ca.gov/documents/hosp-refs/Stomach_capacity_references.doc> 
):
day 1: 5-7ml; day 3: 22-27ml; day 10: 45-60ml.
But I was intrigued by the visualisations 
offered on several websites, for example
<www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/colostrum.html> or 
 
<www.ameda.com/breastfeeding/started/stomach.aspx>
They propose: day 1: a small marble; day 3: a 
shooter marble; day 10: a ping-pong-ball.
Here in Germany, a small marble has a 
diameter of about 1,6 cm and a shooter marble 
a diameter of ca. 2,5cm. That might differ 
from the USA, but a ping-pong-ball should 
have the same size all over the world, and I 
measured a little more than 3,7cm.
That seemed very small to me, so I did some 
math (being German, I did it in ml and cm and 
not in ounzes and inches).
The formula to calculate the volume (v) of a 
ball with the radius (r) is:
v = (4/3pi)r^3   or v = 4,19*r^3
For a diameter of 1,6cm, I get r = 0,8cm, 
which gives me v = 2,15ml.
For a diameter of 2,5cm, I get r = 1,25cm and 
v = 8,18ml.
For a diameter of 3,7cm, I get r = 1,85cm and 
v = 26,53ml.
I rechecked these results by putting 6gr 
(=6ml) of water into a small glass and held 
the small marble besides it - it was obvious 
that those 6ml would never fit into the marble.
So the stomach of the newborn is small - but 
not THAT small.
utta
------------------------------------
Utta Reich-Schottky
breastfeeding counselor AFS 
(Arbeitsgemeinschaft Freier Stillgruppen)
www.afs-stillen.de

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]