BREAST-FEEDING IN NEONATAL INTENSIVE-CARE

Objective: To determine the incidence of breast-feeding in very preter m babies while in neonatal intensive care. Methodology: A retrospectiv e records analysis of all 151 babies with gestational age less than 35 weeks admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a major teaching hospital in 1993. Results: On discharge 64% of babies were ha ving some breast milk (45% having breast milk alone, 19% both breast m ilk and formula), and 38% some breast-feeding (17% being solely breast -fed, the other 21% combining breast-feeding with either bottle-feedin g or an intragastric tube [IGT]). Breast milk was the first milk for 4 1% of babies, with 83% having breast milk at some stage. Increasing ge stational age was associated with a decreased likelihood of first milk being breast milk (73% of those less than 29 weeks compared to 21% of those aged 33-34 weeks, P < 0.001), but with increased rates of breas t-feeding (23 compared to 59%, P = 0.01) and breast milk consumption ( 42 compared to 73%, P = 0.04). Conclusions: Breast-feeding rates in NI CU are well below those found on discharge for full term babies. Both maternal and staff-related factors contribute to this. More and better education of mothers, doctors and nurses as well as changes to some u nit practices could increase these rates.