Infants of mothers with persistent nipple pain exert strong sucking vacuums.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine whether infants of mothers experiencing persistent nipple pain exerted very strong intraoral vacuums during a breastfeed.


METHODS
Thirty mothers experiencing persistent pain during breastfeeding (Pain group; infants aged 49.4 +/- 35.5 days) were compared to 30 successfully breastfeeding mothers (Control group; infants aged 55.0 +/- 22.7 days). Infant intraoral vacuums were measured via a small milk-filled tube taped alongside the nipple and connected to a pressure transducer. Milk intake was measured using the test weigh method.


RESULTS
Infants in the Pain group applied significantly stronger baseline (-90.8 +/- 54.5 vs. -56.4 +/- 31.4 mmHg, p = 0.004), peak (-214.3 +/- 60.5 vs. 163.2 +/- 62.4 mmHg, p = 0.002) and pause vacuums (-104.8 +/- 67.9 vs. -45.8 +/- 30.3 mmHg, p < 0.001). Despite similar active sucking times (377.5 +/- 175.2 vs. 349.4 +/- 184.0 sec, p = 0.554) the mean milk intake was significantly lower for infants of mothers with nipple pain (41.6 +/- 31.3 vs. 70.7 +/- 30.7 g, p = 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Infants of breastfeeding mothers experiencing persistent nipple pain applied significantly higher vacuum to the breast during breastfeeding despite assistance with positioning and attachment from a lactation consultant. Further investigation into the cause of the abnormally high vacuums is essential to develop successful interventions for these mother-infant dyads.
McClellan
Hl
H
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia. hlm@student.uwa.edu.au
Geddes
Dt
D
Kent
Jc
J
Garbin
Cp
C
Mitoulas
Lr
L
Hartmann
Pe
P
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008895:Milk, Human; D009558:Nipples; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014886:Weaning; D014904:Western Australia