Fellow Cohen Children's Medical Center Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Queens , New York, United States
Background: Mothers own milk is critical for short and long term health of preterm infants. It has been shown that milk expression within the first hour after birth affects milk production in mothers of preterm infants. Frequency of early breast emptying and its effect on later milk production in this population is not well understood.
Objective: To determine the effects of early initiation and frequency of milk expression on milk production in mothers of preterm infants.
Design/Methods: Mothers of preterm infants born <32 weeks gestation and having a birth weight <1500 g were consented within 48 hours of birth. Information on manual expression, milk expression sessions, and lactation consultation were collected. Mothers were encouraged to keep a log of milk expression sessions and milk volumes produced. Milk expression sessions and milk volumes were collected weekly for four weeks.
Results: A total of 22 mothers (26 infants) who delivered at an average gestational age of 28 ± 2.9 weeks (range 24 to 32 weeks) were enrolled. There was a positive correlation between number of milk expression sessions in first week and milk volume on day 14 (r = 0.56, p= 0.046) and day 21 (r=0.74, p = 0.006). There was a significant relationship between milk volume on day 7 and day 14 (r=0.87), day 21 (r=0.60) and day 28 (r=0.64), all p <0.05. Conclusion(s): We found that frequent milk expression in the first week directly affects later milk production through 28 days. Frequent early milk expression is critical to overall milk supply for mothers of preterm infants. Further investigation on how to support early and frequent milk expression is needed in this population of mothers delivering prematurely.
Authors/Institutions: Christina L. Gomez-Juge, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, United States; Victoria Silverman, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, United States; Disha Yellayi, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, United States; Richard Schanler, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, United States; Diana Maffei, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, United States
