Test weighing before and after feeds

What is test weighing?

In the 1950s, during the era of the ‘scientification of motherhood’, it was common for babies in developed countries to be weighed before and after a feed, known as test weighing. This practice shouldn't be routinely practiced with term infants because of its lack of precision as a measure of either breast milk production or milk transfer.

• The density of human milk is approximately 1.03 g/mL. This means that one milliliter (mL) of human milk weighs slightly more than one gram (g), specifically about 1.03 grams. Because the density of human milk (1.03 g/mL) is very close to that of water (1.00 g/mL), the difference…