Neonatal nutrition is an important subject in health in the short, medium and long
term. In preterm newborns, nutrition assumes a predominant role for the child's
overall development. Babies with uncoordinated swallowing or respiration may not have
the necessary oral abilities to suck the mother's breast and will need to implement
different feeding practices; one of them is changing the consistency of the milk
offered.ObjectivesDetermine viscosity variations of untreated human and pasteurized milk without and
with thickening to adapt the diet to the needs of dysphagic infants hospitalized
in the Neonatal Intensive Cara Unit (NICU). Material and MethodsThe authors altered the viscosity of natural infant powdered milk and, after
thickening, determined and adopted a thickening standard for human milk. Untreated
human and pasteurized milk was thickened in concentrations of 2%, 3%, 5% and 7%
and the viscosity were determined every 20 minutes for a period of 60 minutes at a
temperature of 37ºC. ResultsThe infant lactose formula thickened at concentrations of 2% and 3% produced
viscosities of 8.97cP and 27.73 cP, respectively. The increases were significantly
different after 1 hour. Inversely, untreated human milk at 2%, 3%, 5% and 7%
produced diminished viscosity over time; the changes were more accentuated in the
first 20 minutes. In pasteurized human milk, the 2% concentration had no variation
in viscosity, but with the 3%, 5% and 7% concentrations, there was a significant
decrease in the first 20 minutes with stability observed in the subsequent times.
ConclusionIn powdered milk, the viscosity increases over time; the viscosity in human milk
diminishes. The results point out the importance not only of considering the
concentration of the thickener but also the time being administered after its
addition to effectively treat dysphagic infants.