It is the holy grail for breastfeeding mums and neonatal clinicians alike — if only there were a device that could measure how much milk babies actually swallow.

Now, it is finally a reality. Melbourne neonatologist Associate Professor Atul Malhotra has collaborated with an engineer to develop a non-invasive probe that can track breastmilk intake in real time.

“Any health professional looking after children in the infantile period — be that  GPs, paediatricians, child health nurses and lactation consultants — struggles with one major factor,” Professor Malhotra, from Monash Children’s Hospital, tells 6minutes. 

“And that is when mothers do not know how much breastmilk the baby is actually taking.