Can Skin-to-Skin Holding in the NICU Support Lactation?

Purpose of study: Mothers of premature infants express breast milk for early infant feedings; however problems arise with changes in physiologic stability of the infant. This study examines the relationship of skin-to-skin holding to volume of breast milk expressed by mothers of very low birth weight (VLBW) premature infants. Subjects and methods: Twenty dyads of first-time mothers with medically stable neonates weighing 1500 g or less at birth participated in this study. Mothers pumped breast milk on regular schedules over a 5 day study enrollment, skin-to-skin held their premature infants during the study and pumped following holding their infants. Results and conclusion: Five sequential days of pumped breast milk data was collected from each mother. The holding intervention demonstrated a significant difference in breast milk volumes over the non-holding conditions with a p-value of 0.003. The clinical significance is perhaps the most important finding: Every mother expressed significantly more milk after skin-to-skin holding. Because breast milk volumes increased more than 20% after every holding intervention for every mother, skin-to-skin holding may be an integral intervention that supports lactation success in the NICU.