Breastfeeding outcomes of a neonatal intensive care unit in a children's hospital

This audit was undertaken to determine mothers' breastfeeding intentions and the feeding patterns of neonates admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where all admissions were born at other sites and were transferred in. Follow-up rates of mothers who were breastfeeding on their infant's discharge from the NICU and at 1, 3 and 6 months after discharge were monitored. In this cohort, the infants required intervention for either a medical or surgical condition and were separated from their mother shortly after birth for transfer to the NICU in the Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW. Interruption to or delay in initiating breastfeeding due to the infant's condition or separation of mother and baby may affect the establishment and duration of breastfeeding. This audit revealed that 56 per cent of the cohort were breastfeeding at time of discharge; on follow-up, 50 per cent of the infants were still breastfeeding at 1 month, 40 per cent at 3 months and 25 per cent at 6 months post-discharge.