What is normal? A study of normal breastfeeding dyads during the first sixty hours of life.

The aim of the study was to describe breastfeeding behaviour during the first 60 hours of life of 'normal' dyads. The Infant Breastfeeding Assessment Tool (IBFAT) was used on a convenience sample of 37 mother-baby dyads. Individual dyads were assessed and then the group was combined to seek underlying patterns. Average time between feeds was 3.36 +/- 0.17 hours. There was a marked diurnal pattern of feeding. Parity affected the rate at which high feeding ability scores were achieved, while the majority of babies were achieving high scores within 24 hours of birth. The results provide a baseline against which future research on interventions during labour and its effect on breastfeeding initiation can be compared.