Direct breastfeeding frequency of late preterm and term infants in the neonatal intensive care unit and availability of mother's own milk at six months of age. a retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mother's Own Milk (MOM) reduces the risk of complications in premature infants. Breastfeeding rates for late preterm and term infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are significantly lower than that of breastfed healthy term newborns at 6 months of age. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of neonates born at 34 weeks 0 days or later. Infants who were directly breastfed in the NICU and were discharged on breast milk were included. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine the significance of association. RESULTS: 171 mother-infant dyads were included. After adjusting for confounders, the number of breastfeeding attempts during the NICU stay was significantly associated with the availability of MOM at six months of age (p = 0.003, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.14). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to show an association between the number of direct breastfeeding attempts in the NICU and availability of MOM at six months of age.