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Point-of-Care Techniques to Identify Risks for Early, Unplanned Lactation Cessation Among Term Mother/Infant Dyads:
Larelle H Bookhart1, Stephanie Devane-Johnson2, Katie T Kivlighan3
1Department of Maternal and Child Health, Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Summary
Point-of-care (POC) infant scales and ion-selective electrodes can help prevent early breastfeeding cessation. These tools assess infant weight changes and milk transfer, aiding in timely interventions for mothers and infants.
Area of Science:
- Lactation and Breastfeeding Research
- Maternal and Infant Health
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Early, unplanned lactation cessation affects many mothers and infants.
- Identifying reliable methods to assess lactation is crucial for intervention.
- Point-of-care (POC) techniques offer potential for real-time assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence on POC techniques for mitigating early lactation cessation.
- To identify current gaps in the application of these techniques.
- To evaluate the utility of POC methods in term mother/infant dyads.
Main Methods:
- Integrative review following PRISMA guidelines.
- Searches conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science.
- Included 19 studies from 2,888 retrieved articles.
Main Results:
- POC techniques included infant scales (weight change, milk transfer) and ion-selective electrodes (mammary function).
- Infant scales for mothers' own milk (MOM) transfer were most frequent (n=15).
- Ion-selective electrodes accurately measure mammary gland function and secretory activation.
Conclusions:
- Infant scales and ion-selective electrodes are valuable POC measures for early lactation risk identification.
- These tools can help mitigate lactation cessation in the postpartum period.
- Further translational studies are needed to develop risk detection algorithms and novel care models incorporating POC techniques.
