Factors affecting breastfeeding of premature infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care unit

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting the breastfeeding of premature infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). Method: This is a descriptive and cross sectional study conducted through face to face interviews and a survey questionnaire, on a total of 126 premature infants of 28 to 36 weeks who were hospitalized at the Aydın Maternity and Child Diseases Hospital and Aydın Adnan Menderes University Research and Application Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between November 2018 and May 2019 and who were internally breastfed, their mothers, and 60 nurses working at the NICU. Information about the premature babies was obtained from the patient files. Before the data collection, necessary permissions were obtained from Ege University Scientific Ethics Committee, Aydın Provincial Health Directorate, respective hospitals, mothers and nurses. Findings: It was found at the end of the study that 55.6% of all premature babies are fed with breast milk only and breastfeeding of the premature infants hospitalized in the NICU was affected by certain characteristics of infants, mothers and nurses. A significant relationship was found between the state of post natal kangaroo care and skin to skin contact and the time when the milk came after the labor (p <0.05). It was found that all nurses participated in in-service training on breastfeeding, and that there is a significant relationship between the training status of nurses and the status of storing the unused breast milk (p <0.05). No significant relationship was found between the premature babies' timing of first breastfeeding and their status of receiving respiratory support, birth weight and hospitalization period (p> 0.05). Conclusion: It was found that most of the mothers did not receive training about breast milk and breastfeeding during or before pregnancy, that kangaroo care contributes to the earlier formation of breast milk, the mother's chronic disease prolonged the duration of breast milk formation and that mothers who believe that their milk would be enough attempt to feed their babies with breast milk only at home, after the baby is discharged. Keywords: Breast Milk; Breastfeeding; Premature; Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Nurse