Peer-reviewed article
Maternal views on facilitators of and barriers to breastfeeding preterm infants
Maria Lorella Giannì, Elena Nicoletta Bezze, Patrizio Sannino, Michela Baro, Paola Roggero et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study surveyed 64 Italian mothers of preterm infants born at 33 weeks gestation or earlier who required intensive care. Most mothers were satisfied with breastfeeding support and believed breast milk was beneficial, but 30% experienced obstacles. Mothers who had difficulty pumping or producing adequate milk were significantly more likely to use formula by hospital discharge. The findings suggest that improved support for milk production and direct breastfeeding could help increase breastfeeding rates for preterm infants.
Key points
- 66% of preterm infants received any breastfeeding at discharge, with only 27% exclusively breastfed
- No infants were exclusively fed directly at the breast during hospitalization
- Mothers who experienced difficulties pumping milk were 4.6 times more likely to use formula at discharge
- Mothers who struggled to produce adequate milk were 3.57 times more likely to use formula
- Most mothers felt supported and satisfied, and believed breast milk was beneficial for infant health
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional survey capturing only maternal perceptions at one point in time, so it cannot establish causality or compare outcomes between different support interventions. The study is limited to one setting in Italy and may not be generalizable to other countries or care models.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The supply of breast milk to preterm infants tends to occur at a lower rate than that recorded among term infants. We aimed to investigate the facilitators of and barriers to breastfeeding during hospital stay according to the experiences of mothers that gave birth to premature infants requiring admission to neonatal intensive care unit. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted. Mothers who had delivered a newborn with a gestational age ≤33 weeks requiring intensive care, entered the study. Basic subjects' characteristics and infant feeding practices were also recorded. RESULTS: A total of 64 mothers were enrolled, leading to a total of 81 infants. At discharge, any breastfeeding was recorded in 66% of infants, with 27% of those infants being exclusively breastfed. Any infant was exclusively fed directly at the breast. Most mothers experienced adequate support during their infant's hospitalization and reported satisfaction with breastfeeding. Almost all mothers felt that feeding their infant human milk was beneficial for the infant's health. Thirty percent of the mothers reported that they had experienced some obstacles to breastfeeding. Specifically, infants born to mothers who experienced difficulties in pumping breast milk (OR = 4.6; CI 1.5-13.9) or in providing an adequate amount of milk to the infant (OR = 3.57; CI 1.1-11.5) were at higher risk of being fed with formula at discharge. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the present results, health care professionals should target their efforts to optimize breastfeeding support for mothers of premature infants admitted to level III care, especially by improving breast milk production and endorsing direct breastfeeding.