Milk Volume at 2 Weeks Predicts Mother's Own Milk Feeding at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Discharge for Very Low Birthweight Infants

Objective: This study sought to determine the maternal prepregnancy, pregnancy, and delivery risk factors that predicted coming to volume (CTV; achieving pumped mother's own milk [MOM] volume 500mLs/day) and the continuation of MOM provision through to discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in mothers and their very low birthweight (VLBW; <1,500g at birth) infants. Study Design: Secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from 402 mothers of VLBW infants admitted to an urban NICU, including detailed MOM pumping records for a subset (51%) of the cohort. Analyses included inverse probability weighting, multivariate regression, and chi-square statistics. Results: In this high-risk cohort (51.2% black, 27.1% Hispanic, 21.6% white/Asian; 72.6% low income; 61.4% overweight/obese prepregnancy), CTV by day 14 was the strongest predictor of MOM feeding at NICU discharge (odds ratio [OR] 9.70 confidence interval [95% CI] 3.86-24.38, p<0.01.). Only 39.5% of mothers achieved CTV by postpartum day 14, an outcome that was predicted by gestational age at delivery (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.15-1.73, p<0.01), being married (OR 3.66, 95% CI 1.08-12.39, p=0.04), black race (OR 7.70, 95% CI 2.05-28.97, p<0.01), cesarean delivery (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.08-0.63, p=0.01), and chorioamionitis (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.02-0.82, p=0.03). Conclusion: Continued provision of MOM at NICU discharge can be predicted in the first 14 postpartum days on the basis of achievement of CTV. We posit that CTV can serve as a quality indicator for improving MOM feedings in the NICU and that lactation support resources should target this early critical postbirth period.