Quantifying Breastmilk Volume Supports Researchers and Mothers
Written by Brittany Barreto, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, FemHealth Insights
In a world where the benefits of breastfeeding are increasingly recognized, the mystery of how much milk a baby consumes from the breast has remained largely unsolved. This enigma is not just a curiosity but has profound implications for maternal and infant health. Surprisingly, while we have detailed knowledge about the breastfeeding habits of animals like blue whales (which drink 50 gallons of breastmilk underwater daily), human breast milk production and consumption have remained largely uncharted territories. This gap in understanding has real-world consequences, as uncertainty about milk supply is a major factor leading many women to discontinue breastfeeding prematurely.
The traditional "weighted feeding" method has been the primary way to estimate breast milk intake. It involves weighing the baby before and after feeding to determine the amount of milk consumed. However, this method is not only cumbersome but also requires access to sensitive scales, which are not commonly found in most homes. This leaves many mothers with unanswered questions and unfounded anxieties about their baby's nutrition.
Enter Coroflo, a groundbreaking innovation by CEO Rosanne Longmore and her team. Coroflo has introduced the world's first accurate breastfeeding monitor, ingeniously integrated into a standard silicone nipple shield. This product, named Coro, is equipped with a micro-flow sensor that measures the volume of milk consumed in real-time, transmitting the data to an accompanying app. The simplicity and ingenuity of Coroflo lie in its ability to provide crucial data without disrupting the natural breastfeeding process.
The implications of Coroflo's technology extend far beyond individual use. For the first time, researchers and healthcare providers can gather precise data on breast milk intake, paving the way for new insights into maternal and child health. This data can influence everything from understanding the impact of a mother's diet on milk production to tailoring breastfeeding advice for mothers with specific health conditions.
The persisting knowledge gap in women's health, particularly regarding how lifestyle, medications, diet, geography, and demographics impact breastfeeding, is a glaring oversight in medical science. Historically, research has been skewed towards male subjects, leading to a significant deficit in our understanding of female-specific health issues. Breastfeeding women continue to be excluded from clinical trials in the United States, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that most people take at least one prescription medication at some point during pregnancy. In April 2018, the FDA published a draft guidance on scientific and ethical considerations for including pregnant people in clinical trials. When finalized, these draft guidance documents aim to improve the consistency and quality of pregnancy safety and breastfeeding studies. But until then, women are told to ask their doctor for their opinion on which medications are safe. Physicians review databases such as The LactMed® database managed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to find out which drugs have been reported to appear in breastmilk or affect milk supply, often through adverse event reporting methods followed by peer-reviewed studies.
Given the importance of breast milk as the primary nutrition source for infants up to two years of age—a period crucial for lifelong health—it's astonishing that such fundamental aspects remain under-researched. Conditions like diabetes, depression, and chronic pain, prevalent among women, remain areas where their impact on lactation is poorly understood. In an era where personalized medicine is increasingly becoming the norm, specific and tailored advice for breastfeeding women, particularly those on medication or with unique lifestyle needs, should be a priority in medical research and maternal healthcare.
Coroflo emerges as an essential tool in this context. By enabling precise measurement of breast milk output, Coroflo provides a foundation for researchers to delve into these critical questions. Its technology has the potential to unlock a wealth of data, offering insights into how individual factors affect lactation. This can pave the way for personalized breastfeeding guidance, transforming maternal healthcare and ensuring better health outcomes for mothers and their babies.
Moreover, Coroflo’s innovation arrives at a crucial time when breastfeeding rates are alarmingly low in many parts of the world. Despite recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, only about 25% of mothers in the US and Europe meet this goal. The reasons are multifaceted, ranging from the need to return to work early (especially in the U.S.) to cultural shifts that have led to a loss of generational knowledge about breastfeeding.
Concern about insufficient milk supply is another frequently cited reason for early weaning of the infant. One national study on feeding practices found that about 50 percent of mothers cited insufficient milk supply as their reason for stopping breastfeeding. Having a poor milk supply can result from infrequent feeding or poor breastfeeding techniques, but lack of confidence in breastfeeding or not understanding the normal physiology of lactation can lead to the perception of an insufficient milk supply when in fact the quantity is enough to nurture the baby.
In this context, Coroflo’s Coro emerges not just as a technological marvel but as a beacon of hope for breastfeeding mothers. It promises to alleviate one of the primary concerns that lead to premature cessation of breastfeeding: the uncertainty about milk supply. By empowering mothers with real-time data, Coro can boost confidence in their ability to nourish their babies adequately. This empowerment has the potential to increase breastfeeding rates, which in turn could have significant health benefits for both mothers and children.
As Coroflo prepares to launch Coro in various markets, starting with Ireland and soon the United States, it stands as a shining example of how technology, when thoughtfully applied, can transform lives and usher in a new era of maternal and child health care.
About the Author:
Dr. Brittany Barreto, Ph.D., is Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at FemHealth Insights. Every day, Brittany dedicates her work to advancing women’s health innovation by equipping key stakeholders with data-driven insights and strategic advice on the FemHealth market. She is also host of the FemTech Focus Podcast - the number 1 femtech podcast globally.
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