PEDIATRICS Vol. 107 No. 6 June 2001, p. e94
ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Impact of Breast Pumping on Lactogenesis Stage II After Cesarean
Delivery: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Received Jun 6, 2000; accepted Jan 23, 2001.
,
From the * Department of Nutritional Science, University of
Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and the Objective. Women at risk for delayed
onset of lactation are often advised to pump their breasts before
lactogenesis stage II to hasten the timing of this process. The
effectiveness of this clinical practice has not been previously
evaluated. This study investigates the effects of breast pumping before
the onset of lactation on early milk transfer and subsequent
breastfeeding duration among women giving birth by cesarean
delivery.
Methodology. Sixty women were randomly assigned to either
the pumping group (n = 30), which used a double
electric breast pump for six 10- to 15-minute sessions from 24 to 72 hours postpartum, or to the control group (n = 30),
which held the pump to their breasts without suction for the same
amount of time. Milk transfer was assessed by test weighing infants
before and after 3 breastfeeding sessions daily. Test weight data were
fitted to a second-order polynomial curve, to predict milk transfer
over time.
Results. Breast pumping between 24 and 72 hours after
cesarean delivery did not improve milk transfer. Participants in the
pumping group tended to have lower milk transfer than did controls.
Primiparae in the pumping group breastfed for ~5 months less than
their counterparts in the control group; however, this difference was
not statistically significant.
Conclusions. Breast pumping did not improve milk transfer
during the first 72 hours postpartum and may negatively affect
breastfeeding duration among primiparous women.
lactation, lactogenesis, breast milk, breast pumping, milk expression,
breastfeeding, cesarean delivery.
Department of Women's
Health, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut.
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