August is also a good month for freebies.  The online journal Breastfeeding Medicine is free this month.

http://www.liebertonline.com/loi/bfm  

If you scroll down the page you will be able to find all the journal articles and the "Fast Tract" (unpublished) articles.  I had to include the abstract of this article.  It is so important to those of you that do test weights because it provides proof that the test weights do work accurately.  

The Development of an Accurate Test Weighing Technique for Preterm and High-Risk Hospitalized Infants


To cite this article:
Barbara Haase, Jeanne Barreira, Pamela K. Murphy, Martina Mueller, Jean Rhodes. Breastfeeding Medicine. -Not available-, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/bfm.2007.0125. 


Online Ahead of Print: April 15, 2009




Full Text: • PDF for printing (79.1 KB) • PDF w/ links (79.9 KB) 



Barbara Haase 
Lactation Consultation Service, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
Jeanne Barreira 
Lactation Consultation Service, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
Pamela K. Murphy 
Lactation Consultation Service, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
Martina Mueller 
Lactation Consultation Service, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
Jean Rhodes 
Lactation Consultation Service, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.

Abstract
Background: Test weighing, or weighing the infant before and after breastfeeding to assess milk intake, in which weight gain in grams is converted equally to volume of intake in milliliters, is a controversial topic in the literature. This study was initiated to identify variables that impact test weights and to develop an accurate test weighing technique for preterm and high-risk hospitalized infants.

Methods: Test weights were performed on a sample of hospitalized high-risk infants with and without leads who were bottle- or nasogastric-fed. Volume consumed was compared to weight gain to determine whether the developed technique was accurate.

Results: In each group, with or without leads, only one measure of actual intake versus test weight result was found outside the confidence limits (95%), and only one measure was found outside the clinically acceptable difference of ±5 g. Correlation coefficient (r2) values of weight gain by test weight to volume of intake were 0.998 for infants without leads and 0.997 for infants with leads.

Conclusions: The data from this study support the use of this test weighing technique as an accurate, objective assessment of the measurement of breastmilk intake after a breastfeeding session, thus allowing medical decisions regarding supplementation to be based on objective data rather than inaccurate clinical indices of the quality of infant feedings at the breast.
Sincerely, Rachel Wahl RN IBCLC 
 
             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome