Feeding outcome in breast-fed term babies supplemented by cup or bottle

Obective: to describe the feeding method at discharge from midwifery care o f term babies supplemented either by cup or bottle while in hospital. Design: a retrospective review of the obstetric and midwifery records of 53 1 consecutively born babies. Setting: a large maternity unit, with an integral General Practitioner Unit , in an inner city in the south of England. Participants: 63 term breast-feeding babies; 30 supplemented by cup and 33 supplemented by bottle. Main outcome measure: breast feeding on discharge from midwifery care. Findings: there were no significant differences between the bottle and cup supplementation groups in relation to feeding outcome (OR I 94 95% CI 0.61, 6.31), or in the length of time from the beginning of supplementation to l eaving hospital (median difference I 95% CI 0, 1) or discharge from midwife ry care (median difference 0 95% CI, -1, 1), Babies who received supplement s of expressed breast milk, as opposed to artificial milk, were more likely to be supplemented by cup (OR 4 29, 95% CI 0.9, 26.91; p=0.05), but were n ot more likely to be discharged from midwifery care breast feeding (OR 3.79 , 95% CI 0.69, 38.36). Conclusion: owing to the small scale and retrospective nature of this surve y, its results must be viewed with caution. However, given the apparent lac k of evidence in this area, prospective work should be undertaken to examin e the most appropriate method of supplementation for term babies, Generalis ation from work related to babies in special care baby units is no longer a cceptable.