title: Evaluation of a lactation support service in a children's hospital neonatal intensive care unit.
abstract: Breastfeeding hospitalized infants can be difficult. The authors assessed the effectiveness of an International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) service to increase the proportion of infants given their own mother's milk (OMM) in a children's hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The charts of 350 randomly selected patients admitted the year before and after implementation of the service in July 1997 were abstracted. Factors significantly associated with infants being given OMM included infant sex, ethnicity, length of NICU stay, and 5-minute Apgar score. After comparison of the periods before and after program implementation, the proportion of NICU infants ever given their OMM was found to have increased from 31% to 47% (P = .002). This increase differed significantly in relation to infants' clinical status and/or management (5-minute Apgar score, length of NICU stay, and age at NICU admission) but not in relation to maternal factors. Mothers with infants in the NICU should have access to lactation counseling.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
authors.forename: Kristine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Jareen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meinzen-Derr
authors.forename: Bonnie L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Arlene J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hibler
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kavinsky
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: Larry K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Pickering
authors.forename: Ardythe L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Morrow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003253:Consultants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D012307:Risk Factors