P0329 - Four Years after Donor Milk Implementation in Our Mother-Baby Unit: How Are We Doing?

Title: Four Years after Donor Milk Implementation in Our Mother-Baby Unit: How Are We Doing?

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life minimum. Many studies showed that in-hospital exclusive breastfeeding after birth is the key for a successful 6 months and beyond duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Neonatal hypoglycemia, physiologic neonatal jaundice, physiologic delay in colostrum production, weight loss, and maternal exhaustion are some of the causes that necessitate formula supplementation; which interrupts the numerous benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and fall against WHO and AAP recommendation. Replacing formula with donor milk offers a bridge to balance the neonatal need for feeding supplementation without interrupting exclusive breastfeeding.

Objective: to study the effect of donor milk's supplementation on the rates of exclusive breastfeeding at the time of discharge from the Mother-Baby Unit.

Methods: This project was conducted at the University of Florida in Jacksonville, and it was approved by the Institutional Review Board. Donor milk was implemented in our Mother-Baby unit in October 2015. We collected the exclusive breastfeeding rates at the time of discharge from the hospital four years before and four years after donor milk implementation. The monthly breastfeeding rates were used to calculate the average rate of breastfeeding and its 95% confidence interval (CI) for each time period. The averages breastfeeding rate between the before- and after-implementation were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test.

Results: On average, the breastfeeding rate was higher post-implementation (average 45.9%, 95%CI 44.3%, 47.6%) compared to pre-implementation (average 25.0%, 95%CI 23.5%, 26.49%, p<.0001).

Conclusion: The donor milk increased exclusive breastfeeding rates during the four years after its implementation.