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Background and purpose: Breastfeeding is the best method of nutrition for infants and would lead to better somatic growth and neurologic development. It is an effective factor in decreasing infant morbidity and mortality. Inadequate breastfeeding results in complications such as failure to thrive, dehydration, uremia, azotemia and hypernatremia. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of failure to thrive due to inadequate breastmilk intake. Materials and methods: This descriptive study was performed in 300 neonates born in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari, 2010. We compared the weight of the neonates at birth and by 7-10 days of age. Weight loss more than 10% was considered as failure to thrive. In this research SPSS V.13 was used to analyze the data. Results: From the total of 300 participants 20 (6.6%) neonates showed more than 10% weight loss in the first two weeks of life. The mean percentage of weight loss was 15.42 ± 6.24. Failure to thrive was statistically correlated with less than 34 weeks gestational age. The majority of mothers were not aware of their babies’ weight loss. In the course of the study two patients (0.7%) were severely dehydrated and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Conclusion: In spite of instructions for breastfeeding shortly after delivery, failure to thrive occurs due to inadequate feeding in breastfed newborns. Therefore, early follow up of the breastfed mothers and neonates should be done to assess the weight gain in neonates.

Keywords: Failure to thrive, breastmilk, neonate

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