Chen et al.J Hum Lact 16(1), 2000J Hum Lact 16(1), 2000Oxygen Saturation and Body Tem-perature in Preterm Infants The Effect of Breast- and Bottle-Feeding on Oxygen Saturation and Body Temperature in Preterm Infants

From July 1997 to June 1998, 25 preterm infants (birth weight < 1800 g) were included in a prospective study to compare the clinical effects of breast- and bottle-feeding. Oxygen satura-tion, heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature were recorded every minute for 20 min-utes during feeding periods. Eighty pairs of breast- and bottle-feeding sessions were observed at the chronological age of 9.3 ± 4.3 (range=2.1-25.3) weeks. Oxygen saturation and body temperature of the preterm infants were significantly higher when they were directly breast-fed. There were 2 episodes of apnea (breath pause more than 20 seconds) and 20 episodes of oxygen desaturation (PaO2 < 90%) during bottle-feeding and none during breastfeeding. We conclude that breastfeeding is a more physiological feeding method for the preterm infant and bottle-feeding may be more stressful. J Hum Lact 2000;16(1):21-27