Study on improving collection feeding safety and quality of colostrum for very (extremely) low birth weight infants

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Pediatric nutrition
• Clinical process optimization

Background:

• Fresh colostrum feeding is crucial for very low birth weight infants (VLBWI/ELBWI).
• Challenges exist in optimizing colostrum administration for these vulnerable infants.
• Current feeding processes may present difficulties impacting timely and effective colostrum delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and address difficulties in fresh colostrum feeding for VLBWI/ELBWI.
• To optimize the colostrum administration process for improved infant and maternal outcomes.
• To enhance the efficiency of colostrum delivery in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Main Methods:

• A comparative study design was employed, comparing an experimental group (optimized process) with a control group (conventional process).
• VLBWI/ELBWI admitted to the NICU between January-December 2021 (experimental) and January-December 2020 (control) were included.
• Key metrics assessed included colostrum supply, adverse feeding events, and maternal breastfeeding rates at critical time points.

Main Results:

• The optimized colostrum feeding process significantly increased colostrum feeding rates (70.5% vs. 44.1%) and maternal breastfeeding at 2 weeks (56.1% vs. 46.7%) and discharge (46.2% vs. 37.8%).
• Time to first colostrum collection was significantly shorter in the experimental group (64.8% vs. 57.8%).
• Nurse time for colostrum collection reduced from 7.5 min/time to 2 min/time, with no feeding-related adverse events observed.

Conclusions:

• Process optimization for fresh colostrum feeding in VLBWI/ELBWI enhances feeding rates and maternal breastfeeding.
• The optimized protocol shortens the time to first colostrum collection and improves nursing efficiency.
• This approach leads to better outcomes for VLBWI/ELBWI and supports maternal breastfeeding.