A Breast Milk Pump at the Bedside: A Project to Increase Milk Production in Mothers of Very Low Birth Weight Infants

The amount of milk production in mothers of babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is mostly determined by some actions focused on the first hours and days after birth. Working for an improvement in our previous results in terms of maternal expressed breast milk (MEBM) production, we designed a pilot project and a small observational study. After increasing the number of breast milk pumps to allow full-time availability and implementing educational strategies and updated information for parents, the volume of MEBM production by day 14 after birth was doubled and increased to >500 mL per day. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge improved from 26.67% to 76.19%. The cost of the use of donor milk per patient decreased by 15.7%. This study is an example of a cost-beneficial quality improvement strategy. It demonstrates the importance of an optimal supply of breast milk pumps in NICU and educational interventions focused on enhancing MEBM production.