Jenny Morris, you asked about a couple who are frequently weighing their SGA
baby for intake at breast and trying to relate the intake to baby's weight
gain. At least, that's how I understand your question.

A cc is a measure of volume, yes, but a gram is defined as the weight of one
cc of water, so for milk (which is mostly water, as Nina Berry points out)
the weight in grams correlates closely enough with the volume of milk in
ccs. 

A baby loses a tiny bit of weight during a feeding because of insensible
water loss via breathing and evaporation from the skin, but this is thought
to balance the tiny difference between the weight of a cc of water and a cc
of milk. 

The scale weighs accurately within a gram or two...and the correlation of
weight of milk to volume of milk is close enough...and the insensible water
loss during the feed is tiny enough...to give them a close enough estimate
of the baby's intake. 

D.W.Winicott, British psychologist, said that a baby doesn't need a perfect
mother, just a good enough mother. These parents don't need a perfect
understanding of their baby's intake. They just need to know that his intake
is good enough. If this kiddo is gaining an ounce a day, that's a good
enough gain.

In the music biz, performers joke while tuning their instruments that it's
"close enough for jazz." Now that the parents have done so well with this
baby and he's gaining, they can relax and enjoy the music.

As others have pointed out, it's not the weight or volume of the milk per se
that will affect the baby's weight gain. It is the balance between the
calories that he uses up just being a baby and his intake. Intake includes
the calorie content of the milk, plus the protein and other nutrients that
the baby uses to build new tissue. Again, the proof that it's all there in
the milk is the fact that he's gaining well.

Chris

Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC
LLL Leader Reserve
working for WIC in South Jersey (Eastern USA)
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA
 
 

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