Effect of early milking stimulation on mothers of newborns predicted to have weak feeding ability

Abstract

Purpose

To determine the effects of milking stimulation early in the postpartum period for mothers who have delivered late preterm or slightly underweight newborns who are expected to be weak feeders, and managed in the obstetric unit.

Methods

A historical-controlled study was conducted to examine the effects of the intervention. Participants were 36-week preterm or full-term infants whose birth weight was less than the 30th percentile of their period-of-birth weight, and their mothers. The intervention group underwent milking stimulation with an electronic pump once on the day of delivery and four times a day following the postpartum day, before or after direct breastfeeding. Comparisons between the intervention and control groups were analyzed using propensity scores, and feeding methods used were categorized as main breastfeeding and formula milk to allow for comparative analysis.

Results

There were 40 participants in the intervention group and 64 in the control group. Artificial milk supplementation on the third postpartum day was significantly lower in the intervention group (−38 mL; 95% confidence interval [−67, −10], p=.008). The intervention group was 2.88-fold more likely than the control group to use main breastfeeding as the primary source of nutrition for their infants at the time of hospital discharge (95%CI [1.18, 7.03], p=.02).

Conclusion

The early milking stimulation intervention was found to significantly reduce the amount of formula milk supplementation required on the third postpartum day. Although the newborns in this study had less ability to suckle milk during breastfeeding, it was inferred that milking stimulation led to a greater natural milk production mechanism.