[Comparison of the effects of two different breastcare methods]

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two breastcare methods-one with moist heating pad (the pad group) and the other with moist hot towel (the towel group). Data were collected from May, 1996 to April, 1997 in a southern hospital in Taiwan. Mothers who breastfed, had no postpartum complications and had a healthy newborn were recruited in the study. Mothers who breastfed less than 2 days and those newborns without a complete body weight record were excluded. The numbers of participants were 94 in the towel group and 52 in the pad group. The tools used in this study were the questionnaire developed by the researchers, the heating pad, and the newborn body weight scale. The results revealed that: (1) there is no differences in the changes of newborns' body weight between the two groups; (2) the mothers in the pad group felt more comfortable, convenient and private than those in the towel group; (3) nurses spent less time helping mothers in the pad group than those in the towel group. The conclusion was that the heating pad could substitute for the hot towel in the breastcare method.