Objective: To evaluate the educational intervention provided in a perinatal unit to support mothers of preterm babies who intend to breastfeed.
Patients and methods: The study was prospective and included all the infants born between 30 and 34 weeks of gestation at the Jeanne-de-Flandre university hospital in Lille and whose mothers intended to breastfeed. The studied period extended from January to December 2005, comparing the first and the last semester. The different actions were guided by the formation of the staff and lactation counselling to mothers, especially in the initiation of lactation. They were provided by one full-time nurse who was lactation consultant. The main outcome measure was the time to the first breast milk expression. Secondary outcome was the rate of infants breastfed at discharge.
Results: Twenty-one educational interventions were organised for all the people working in the unit. One hundred thirty-two nurses and 17 doctors attended to these sessions. During the study period, 175 babies were born preterm at a gestational age between 30 and 34 weeks: 81 during the first semester and 94 during the second. The two populations were comparable for gestational age and the social class of the mothers, but the birth weight was higher during the second semester (1681+/-140 vs 1774+/-216 g, P=0, 01). Mothers of 65.1% of the neonates intended to breastfeed. The time of the first breast milk expression decreased significatively during the second semester (37,5 vs 30,7 h, P<0, 01). The rate of exclusively or partially breastfed neonates at discharge was stable (88,5 vs 91,9%, ns).
Conclusion: The program improved the initiation of lactation. This work emphasises the difficulties and the different steps necessary to promote breastfeeding in preterm babies with respect to developmental care.