Getting Enough: Mother’ Concerns About Breastfeeding a Preterm Infant After Discharge
- 1 January 1995
- journal article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing
- Vol. 24 (1), 23-32
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1995.tb02375.x
Abstract
To describe maternal concerns about breastfeeding a preterm infant in the postdischarge period and to delineate the strategies mothers used in managing these concerns. Naturalistic inquiry was used. A semistructured interview was conducted with the mother in the home 1 month after discharge of the infant. Twenty mothers of preterm infants; the infants had been in a level 3 hospital nursery, and the mothers had received individualized breastfeeding support services in the hospital. Three categories of maternal concerns emerged from the data: adequate milk consumption by infants; milk composition; and problems with the mechanics of breastfeeding a preterm infant. Mothers identified strategies for these concerns. The mothers' main concern was whether infants consumed an adequate volume of milk by breastfeeding alone. Strategies for managing concerns about getting enough included using supplemental and complemental feeding, using ongoing cues to tell that the infant is getting enough, and persevering with breastfeeding. Mothers of preterm infants have unique concerns about breastfeeding in the postdischarge period and need individualized interventions.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- Breastfeedilzg Support Services in the Neonutd Intensive-Care UnitJournal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 1993
- Breastfeeding Success With Preterm QuadrupletsJournal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 1992
- Breast milk and subsequent intelligence quotient in children born pretermThe Lancet, 1992
- Persistence in breastfeeding: a phenomenological investigationJournal of Advanced Nursing, 1990
- Postpartum concerns of breastfeeding mothersJournal of Nurse-Midwifery, 1988
- Energetics and mechanics of nutritivesucking in the preterm and term neonateThe Journal of Pediatrics, 1987
- Responses Of Small Preterm Infants To Bottle- And Breast-feedingMCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 1987
- A Study of Mothers'Breastfeeding ConcernsBirth, 1986
- Breast-feeding Behavior Of Small Preterm InfantsMCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 1985
- Early Indicators of Breast-Feeding ProgressIssues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, 1983