Discussion
We did not find any significant difference in the BAT
scores at 36–48 h of age between the infants who received
early SSC and those who did not. This is in accord with
the results of the study by Carfoot et al. , which also
suggested that the BF success before discharge was similar
in the two groups. However, the studies that have evaluated
the effect of SSC on first breast feed report higher
scores [6, 8] and a better mean sucking competency in the
early-SSC group [9] . Notwithstanding the slightly different
nature of the outcomes, we assume the following factors
to have contributed to the absence of a significant
difference in BAT scores in the two groups: (a) improvement
in the feeding behavior of the control infants over
48 h following routine BF counseling of mothers; (b) the
possibility of missing a true difference in the scores by
one-time assessment of a feeding session, and (c) the limited
power of the study because of the unexpectedly large
variation in the results – while the sample size was calculated
based on the assumed SD of 2.2, the SD of the two
study groups turned out to be 3.4.