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Direct feeding at the breast is associated with breast milk feeding duration among preterm infants

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Gil Ben-Horin
Published: Nov 16, 2017

A study performed at Sheba Medical Center aimed to investigate the effect of mode (direct feeding at the breast versus expressing) and exclusivity (breast milk combined with formula versus breast milk only) as well as maternal perceptions on the duration of breast milk feeding (BMF) among preterm infants. The MetaVision clinical information system served as a platform for organising the data, which included maternal demographics (age, years of education, income, marital status) and obstetric characteristics (fertility treatment, gestational age, and delivery mode). The authors found that two factors were associated with duration of BMF among infants born before 32 weeks of gestational age: direct feeding at the breast and duration of exclusive BMF. They conclude that “Further studies are needed in order to assess interventions such as early skin to skin and breast milk expression, maternal rooming-in, minimising use of pacifier, test-weighting, as well as consultant availability, during and after discharge, which would encourage mothers of preterm infant to engage in breast milk feeding exclusively and to feed directly at the breast.”

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