Barriers to sustained mother’s own milk feeding in newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit or special care nursery.

Abstract Background Breast milk feeding is the optimal nutrition for all neonates including preterm newborns. Factors influencing mother’s own milk (MOM) feeding at discharge need to be acknowledged and addressed appropriately.Methods Data was collected from electronic patient charts of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany. All infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or special care nursery in the first two days of life during a period of three years were included. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine sociodemographic and medical factors associated with MOM feeding at discharge.Results At discharge, 54.9% of the infants were exclusively MOM fed, 44.4% of infants born ≥ 37 weeks, 56.1% of infants born between 32 and 36+6 weeks and 59% of infants born < 32 weeks gestation. In early preterm infants, first breastfeeding after the first 14 days of life, absent maternal nicotine abuse and vaginal delivery were associated with MOM feeding. For infants born 32 - 37 weeks, MOM feeding was more common with first breastfeeding after the first 14 days of life, lower birth weight and for women without gestational diabetes. For infants born ≥ 37 weeks MOM feeding was associated with first breastfeeding within the first 14 days.Conclusions A significant number of infants were not fed MOM at discharge. We identified groups that may benefit from targeted interventions to promote MOM feeding.