Bowel Habits of Preterm Infants in Ilorin

Abstract

Objective: To determine the pattern of bowel habits of preterm infants in the first 10 days of postnatal life.

Methods: One hundred and forty preterm infants delivered at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) or referred to it within twelve hours of delivery, were studied. The babies were divided into two equal groups namely, those less than 33 weeks (group 1) and those between 33 and less than 37 weeks of gestation (group 2); 40 term babies were included in the study for comparison. The volume of feeds (where applicable), the age at first feeding, frequency of stools passed and the colour of the stools were recorded. 

Results: The first stool was passed at 32.2 27.5 hours in babies <33 weeks (group 1), at 21.8–15.8 hours in those between 33 and <37 weeks of gestation (group 2) and at 14.3–12.4 hours in the term babies. Although there was a significant indirect relationship between gestational age at birth and the time of passage of the first stool (p = 0.000078), the onset of enteral feeding was not a factor for initiating passage of the first stool; it however, had a direct relationship with the onset of transitional stool. The gestational age had an inverse correlation with the duration of passage of transitional stool (r=0.31 and p<0.001). The average frequency of stools/day increased with gestational age from 0.67 (group 1) and 0.57 (group 2) on the first postnatal day to a peak frequency of 1.80 and 2.00 respectively, during the first week of life. After this, there was a decrease, in spite of increasing milk intake.

Conclusion: The average frequency of stools/ day in exclusively breastfed infants increases with gestational age. Most preterm and term neonates fed on breast milk produce predominantly soft stool during the first 10 days of life. It is hoped that the data produced from this study will serve as a reference for comparison with studies from other countries where exclusive breastfeeding is practised