LIFT: Telemedicine Breastfeeding Support

University of California, Davis56 enrolled

Overview

The central hypothesis guiding this project is that tailored breastfeeding support, that leverages easily accessible telemedicine technologies, can improve breastfeeding outcomes among late preterm dyads. The long-term goals of this project are to improve maternal and child health and reduce health disparities by designing and implementing evidence-based interventions to improve breastfeeding outcomes for this challenging patient population. This study seeks to identify lactation support practices that improve breastfeeding duration and to test the effect of telemedicine breastfeeding support on breastfeeding duration, among the nearly one in ten mothers who deliver late preterm (34-37 6/7 weeks), as this subpopulation of mothers faces the highest rates of premature breastfeeding cessation

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Breastfeeding

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALL

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * maternal age 18-49 years * late preterm delivery (34-37 6/7 weeks) * enrollment up to 1 week postpartum * breastfeeding initiated * access to a smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer in their home Exclusion Criteria: * incarceration * inability to communicate in English * infant with medical condition compromising breastfeeding (e.g. cleft lip and/or palate).

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Experience

Mean score on a modified, 16-item Interactive Telehealth Satisfaction Scale \>48 (corresponding to better than neutral on a 5 point Likert scale, 16 questions).

Time frame: One month post-enrollment

Secondary Outcomes

Time to cessation

Time to breastfeeding cessation (assessed via monthly surveys as no to infant receiving any breast milk in last 24 hours)

Time frame: Monthly up to 12 months

Exclusive breastfeeding cessation

Time to exclusive breastfeeding cessation (assessed via monthly surveys, defined by initiation of formula, water, juice, other liquids, or solid foods)

Time frame: Monthly up to 12 months

Breastfeeding at 3 months

Proportion of infants breastfeeding at 3 months (assessed via 24 hour recall from infant's mother)

Time frame: 3 months

Exclusive breastfeeding

Proportion of infants breastfeeding without supplementation with other food or liquids at 3 months (assessed via 24 hour recall from infant's mother)

Time frame: 3 months

Individual satisfaction questions

Mean satisfaction on each Interactive Telehealth Satisfaction Scale question

Time frame: 1 month post enrollment