Premature Infants Thrive on Breast Milk

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:04:40 +0000

A groundbreaking program at UC San Diego Medical Center encourages mothers of premature infants to initiate lactation and express breast milk to provide for their preemies who cannot suckle at the breast full-time or even part-time. The CBS interview linked to below reveals fascinating information about the life-saving benefits of breast milk for pre-term babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. What’s even more interesting is that the expressed breast milk provides a benefit not only for the babies but for their mothers as well! Cathy Robinson, the mother of premature twins Naomi and Caldwell, explained:

You can’t be there [physically in the NICU] all the time. So it was my way to be able to be there for them all the time. I’m providing for them.

This sentiment echoes exactly what Australian researcher Linda Sweet found when she interviewed parents for her study “Expressed breast milk as ‘connection’ and its influence on the construction of ‘motherhood’ for mothers of preterm infants: a qualitative study,” published in the International Breastfeeding Journal last December. Sweet concluded:

Providing expressed breast milk offered one way the mothers could be physiologically and emotionally connected to their preterm infant while they were in the constant care of hospital staff. Indeed, breast milk was considered the only way the new mother could connect her body (or part there of) to her preterm baby in hospital.

International Breastfeeding Journal 2008, 3:30.

You can see Cathy Robinson’s story and learn invaluable information from the UC San Diego Medical Center staff on the importance of breast milk for premature infants in this CBS interview. Thanks to Mama Knows Breast for highlighting this video!

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Breastfeeding 1-2-3 » preemies

Premature Infants Thrive on Breast Milk