Some aspects of gastric function in the newborn

Abstract

The pH changes in the gastric contents during the entire interval between feeds have been determined in 25 healthy, breast-fed, newborn infants. In only a minority of cases did the pH fall to levels where any degree of casein hydrolysis could occur. At such times, usually during the fourth hour after a feed, there was little food remaining in the stomach. Hydrolysed protein was found in the stomach of only one of nine babies three hours after the beginning of the feed, and then only to a minor degree. The absorption of calcium and iron in milk-fed infants cannot be entirely dependent on the formation of soluble acid salts in the small bowel. There appears to be little or no theoretical indication for the use of acidified milk as an aid to gastric digestion in infancy.