Examining the Use and Outcomes of a New Hospital-Grade Breast Pump in Exclusively Pumping NICU Mothers

Abstract

The Ameda Platinum breast pump is an effective hospital-grade pump for exclusively pumping mothers to establish full milk production by 14 days postpartum. Separate control of speed and suction allows mothers a wide range of options to achieve greater comfort and multiple milk ejections, both of which contribute to optimal milk expression.

Daily Breastmilk Volume in Mothers of Very Low Birth Weight Neonates: A Repeated-Measures Randomized Trial of Hand Expression Versus Electric Breast Pump Expression

“…Their results demonstrated that mothers of preterm infants can achieve high levels of milk production by combining the use of EE and HE. 16 Larkin et al 24 demonstrated that mothers of preterm infants can establish a full milk supply (>700 mL/day) by combining HE after electric pumping during the first 3 days postpartum and hands-on pumping after lactogenesis II.…”

Association of Timing of Initiation of Breastmilk Expression on Milk Volume and Timing of Lactogenesis Stage II Among Mothers of Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants

“…16,17 Although recent research has shown that mothers of VLBW infants are able to produce adequate amounts of breastmilk, many continue to struggle with inadequate production. 18,19 Decreased milk production may be owing to decreased mammary gland development as well as decreased exposure to prolactin, cortisol, and other hormones that normally occur during a full-term pregnancy. 15 Although mechanical breast pumps to enhance milk expression may be used, they do not replicate the sucking mechanics of breastfeeding infants, potentially decreasing the production of breastmilk and/or delaying lactogenesis stage II.…”

Five Steps to Improve Bedside Breastfeeding Care

“…This further suggests that reliance on pump suction alone may compromise the removal of viscous milk, such as colostrum and fat-rich milk (also known as hind milk) and thereby negatively affect production. High mean daily volumes of milk in mothers combining electric pumping with these two manual techniques (hand expression and handson pumping) have been replicated in a recent study in which mothers averaged 817 mL by day 14 (Larkin, Kiehn, Murphy, & Uhryniak, 2013). Video step-by-step demonstration of these two manual techniques can be found on the Stanford University Newborn Breastfeeding web site at http://newborns.stanford.…”