Hypernatremia in newborns

Abstract:  Two cases of severe hypernatremia in healthy newborns are described. They were term infants with normal birthweight and breastfed at the discharge from the maternity ward. The infants had not been weighed from the time of birth until the day of admission to hospital at an age of seven and nine days. At the admission, the weight loss was 18% and 22% and the sodium concentrations were 160 and 164 mmol/l. After rehydration mainly orally they were discharged bottle-fed after five and eight days, respectively. None of the mothers were able to breast-feed their infants at the time of admission. To prevent breast-feeding malnutrition and hypernatremia it is recommended that all newborns are seen and weighed by a professional during the second half of their first week of life.