A Comparison of the Timing of Hand Expressing of Human Milk With Breast Massage to Standard Care for Mothers of Preterm Infants: An Exploratory Pilot Using a Randomized Controlled Design

Loretta A. Anderson, Sue Kildea, Nigel Lee, Kathryn Kynoch, Yu Gao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background:

Globally, 10% of all births are preterm. Access to human milk via manual breast expression is required to reduce the incidence of adverse outcomes related to prematurity. However, there is little evidence to recommend optimum timing to commence breast expression in mothers of preterm infants or the most effective method.

Research Aims:

(1) To test feasibility of recruitment and compliance to the protocol and (2) to determine influence of using hand expressing and breast massage on milk production, engorgement, mastitis, and breastfeeding status at 3 months.

Methods:

This study was an exploratory parallel two-group, pilot randomized controlled trial. Mothers of preterm infants at a metropolitan maternity hospital in Queensland Australia (N = 31) were randomized to receive either hand expressing and breast massage within the 1st hr of birth or standard care, hand expressing within 6 hr of birth, to determine the influence on milk production, engorgement, mastitis, and breastfeeding status at 3 months.

Results:

Feasibility targets were not met; however, valuable learning from this trial uncovered barriers facing midwives in the birth suite to commencing expressing in the 1st hr of birth. There was no difference in occurrence of secondary outcomes, although trends support future study.

Conclusions:

Overall, unpredictability of preterm birth influenced our ability to recruit participants. Important directions for future study design would benefit from incorporating expressing times up to 6 hr with a replicable breast massage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)226-235
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Human Lactation
Volume39
Issue number2
Early online dateMay 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by a grant provided by The Mater Foundation under the Betty McGrath Fellowship Scheme.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

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