Laura Duckett, PhD, MPH, RN¹, Richard C. Lussky, MD², and Diana Neal, BSN, MS, RN¹. (1) School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 6101 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612-624-9160, ducke001@umn.edu, (2) Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Hennepin County Medical Center, 701 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55415-1829

Very few studies have focused on how the milieu of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) can range from being very non-supportive to very supportive of mother’s milk feeding (MMF).

Specific Aims: 1. Analyze current patterns of MMF for premature infants from the perspectives of NICU nurses, physicians, and other health team members. 2. Assess the views of participants regarding what could or should occur in the future with regard to promotion and support of MMF in the NICU.

Participants: Participants included nurses in leadership positions (n = 9), staff nurses (n = 15), physicians (n=3), and other health team members (n = 3).

Methods: We used ethnographic methods to conduct small focus groups with staff nurses and individual interviews with other participants. The Ethnographic Interview Guide: Professional Version was used to guide data collection. Interviews and focus groups were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Atlas.ti software is being used for coding, categorizing and sorting the data.

Key Results, Discussion and Conclusions: Initial findings include four overarching themes and five “tensions” which have emerged from the data. An example theme is: The ecosystem is favorable to MMF but the overall approach is not well-orchestrated. An example “tension” is: Viewing MMF as doing something special for the infant vs. viewing MMF as an additional burden to highly stressed mothers. The analyzed data will be useful when developing an enhanced system of care relevant to MMF in the NICU. A future step will be to develop such a system and test it for efficacy.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe health team members' perspectives on mother's milk feeding for premature infants in the NICU.
• Describe health team members views about how to enhance mother's milk feeding of premature infants in the NICU in the future.

Keywords: Breastfeeding, Low Birthweight

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I have a grant (a sub-contract) from the hospital where the data were collected. That sub-contract funded the research. A private foundation awarded the primary grant to the the hospital.