Association of Milk Secretion Volume with Nipple Pain: A Prospective Hypothesis Verification Study

Many mothers stop breastfeeding due to nipple pain, which is experienced when the baby sucks the mother's nipples during breastfeeding. To verify how nipple pain during breastfeeding is associated with nipple perfusion and volume of milk secretion. Prospective hypothesis verification study. Fifty-nine lactating women who delivered at term were enrolled. The CS Probe S and laser Doppler ALF21 were used to measure perfusion, and PowerLab 2/26 and LabChart 8 were used to analyze perfusion. The difference in the infant's weight (g) before and after breastfeeding was used to measure milk secretion. The participants' mean age (± standard deviation) was 30.88 ± 3.77 years. Although 80-90% of participants had proper breastfeeding posture and infant attachment, 34 (57.6%) and 30 (42.4%) mothers experienced nipple pain on postpartum days 1 and 4, respectively. For postpartum days 1 and 4, the group with nipple pain exhibited significantly less nipple perfusion than the group without pain. Milk secretion was lower in the group with nipple pain on postpartum day 4 than in the group without pain, although this was not statistically significant. The reduction in nipple perfusion did not differ significantly between the high (75%) and low secretion groups (25%) and between the nipple trauma and nontrauma groups. However, the low secretion group and nipple trauma group had larger reductions in nipple perfusion. Assessing the amount of milk secretion can provide a new perspective on preventive care for nipple pain and trauma.