LAUREN CHRISTA WRIGHT,APRN

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The goal of this research is to understand what barriers exist in breastfeeding so that moving forward, pertinent solutions will be generated based on YOUR needs- that mothers may be empowered to continue breastfeeding!

Barriers to Breastfeeding

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How many children have you breastfed? *

Was you baby preterm? If so, please answer the following questions related to breastfeeding your preterm child(ren) *

Please identify 3 specific challenges you have/had with breastfeeding: *

Was there any noticeable difference in breastfeeding/latching after introducing bottle feeding? *

If you have had trouble breastfeeding/latching after bottle feeding, what do you think could have caused that? *

Did you want to continue breastfeeding after introducing the bottle? Please explain *

What do you look for when selecting a bottle nipple? *

How important is breastfeeding to you? *

Have any products/ techniques improved breastfeeding for you? *

Are you interested in techniques/ products that promote breastfeeding? Name *

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Age *

Email *

Thank you for sharing this important information that will guide future solutions to improve the breastfeeding process. Who else do you know with valuable feedback to propel this effort? Please share this link with them or enter their email below: *

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Background:

Breast milk is a remarkable biological product that, through millions of years of evolution, has evolved to make babies healthy, and define mammals as the dominant animals on this planet. It contains the specified nutrition, immunological factors, and microbes necessary for establishment on the gut microbiome, immune, and neurological development. Health benefits of human milk have long been known, but the importance of the mother's skin microbiota transferred during breastfeeding influencing these health effects is just being discovered.

We on the forefront of this new frontier of research where we are just now understanding that there are 100,000 times the genes in the bacterial  microbiome than your own cells that are  influencing the very way you think, metabolize food, and genetic expression of disease- It’s who you are! There is a narrow window during the first 3 years of life where the establishment of your signature gut microbiome can be influenced and optimized through the increased volume of human milk. Preterm infants who do not recieve human milk suffer more from consuquences of dysbiosis such as necrotizing enterocolotis, sepsis, and often death. Dysbiosis is associated with the two major killers in preterm infancy: necrotizing enterocolitis and late onset sepsis. Affecting >4000 preterm infants yearly in the United States alone, necrotizing enterocolitis remains the most devastating gastrointestinal disease for preterm infants with a mortality rate of nearly 33% and costs the U.S. healthcare system >$1 billion annually alone.

Because a modifiable factor shown to ameliorate the devastating effects of dysbiosis in babies is breast milk, and the scientific community is uncovering the importance of skin-to- skin contact and microbial transfer in the establishment of the life long signature microbiome, a way to increase intake of human milk volume and breastfeeding is crucial, particularly in the preterm infant populaton.

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