The study aimed to investigate the effects of breast milk sniffing and breast milk tasting and sniffing on sucking success and early feeding cues in term newborns who were started to breastfeed for the first time.
In the literature, there are many studies examining the odor effect or odor and taste effect during gavage feeding of premature and low birth weight infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). However, no study was found to examine the effect of smell and taste application on breastfeeding success and early feeding cues during initiation of breastfeeding for the first time in healthy term newborns. It is clear that sick newborns need much more support and intervention in the transition to oral feeding. However, the low rates of breastfeeding in our country indicate that the use of effective and facilitating methods to initiate and maintain breastfeeding is also necessary for term and healthy infants. Therefore, this study may guide healthcare professionals on the effectiveness of odor and taste stimulation for early breastfeeding and provide ideas for designing new research and projects.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
72
In the breast milk odor stimulation group, one or two drops of breast milk were placed on a sponge in accordance with the literature. Breast milk was obtained from each infant's own mother by hand expressing. The mothers were asked to express two drops of breast milk from their breasts onto the sponge. The sponge on which the breast milk was dripped was placed as close to the baby's nose as possible without touching the baby's nose. Since breast milk odor stimulation is recommended to be given to the baby for 1 minute in the literature, the baby was allowed to smell the odor of breast milk for 1 minute. The baby was then given to the mother for breastfeeding and breastfeeding was initiated as in routine practice.
In this group in which the breast milk sniffing method was applied; two drops of breast milk were dripped onto a sponge in accordance with the literature and this sponge was placed as close to the nose as possible without touching the nose and the baby was allowed to smell the smell of breast milk for about 1 minute. Then the baby was given to the mother. The mother was asked to express milk manually and to apply/drip approximately 0.2 ml (approximately two drops) of the expressed colostrum starting from the tip of the baby's tongue, along the tongue surface, on both cheeks of the baby, as applied in studies using oral colostrum as a reference. The mother was also asked to express a drop of milk from her breast and manually apply it to the areola. Breastfeeding was then initiated as in routine practice.
Selcuk University
Konya, Selcuklu, Turkey (Türkiye)
Introductory Information Form
This form was created by the researchers by utilizing the literature. The descriptive information form consisted of a total of 12 questions inquiring about the mother's descriptive information (maternal age, education level, occupation, place of residence, economic status), obstetric information (mode of delivery, number of deliveries, breastfeeding experience, time of first breastfeeding) and infant information (infant's gender, birth weight, gestational week, Apgar score at 5 min).
Time frame: First measurement-First day of hospitalization
Early Feeding Tips Scale
The Turkish validity and reliability study of the scale developed by Thoyre, Ahaker, and Pridham in 2005 was conducted by Girgin et al. in 2021. The early feeding cues scale consists of 19 items and 5 subcategories and is evaluated based on observation. These categories are respiratory regulation, oral-motor function, swallowing coordination, alertness-energy status and physiological stability.The lowest total score is 19 and the highest is 57. A higher score indicates the presence of early feeding cues and a lower score indicates a decrease in early feeding cues.
Time frame: First measurement-first breastfeeding of the first day
Breastfeeding Identification and Assessment Scale (LATCH)
It is a measurement tool developed by Jansen and Wallece in 1993, which is similar to the APGAR scoring system in terms of scoring. Turkish validity and reliability studies of the LATCH breastfeeding diagnosis form were conducted by Demirhan in 1997 , Koyun in 2001 , and Yenal and Okumuş in 2003. Each criterion in the scale is given a score between 0 and 2 and the lowest score is 0 and the highest score is 10. An increase in the scores obtained from the scale indicates breastfeeding success.
Time frame: First measurement-first breastfeeding of the first day
Early Feeding Tips Scale
The Turkish validity and reliability study of the scale developed by Thoyre, Ahaker, and Pridham in 2005 was conducted by Girgin et al. in 2021. The early feeding cues scale consists of 19 items and 5 subcategories and is evaluated based on observation. These categories are respiratory regulation, oral-motor function, swallowing coordination, alertness-energy status and physiological stability.The lowest total score is 19 and the highest is 57. A higher score indicates the presence of early feeding cues and a lower score indicates a decrease in early feeding cues.
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Time frame: Second measurement-Second breastfeeding of the first day
Breastfeeding Identification and Assessment Scale (LATCH)
It is a measurement tool developed by Jansen and Wallece in 1993, which is similar to the APGAR scoring system in terms of scoring. Turkish validity and reliability studies of the LATCH breastfeeding diagnosis form were conducted by Demirhan in 1997 , Koyun in 2001 , and Yenal and Okumuş in 2003. Each criterion in the scale is given a score between 0 and 2 and the lowest score is 0 and the highest score is 10. An increase in the scores obtained from the scale indicates breastfeeding success.
Time frame: Second measurement-Second breastfeeding of the first day
Early Feeding Tips Scale
The Turkish validity and reliability study of the scale developed by Thoyre, Ahaker, and Pridham in 2005 was conducted by Girgin et al. in 2021. The early feeding cues scale consists of 19 items and 5 subcategories and is evaluated based on observation. These categories are respiratory regulation, oral-motor function, swallowing coordination, alertness-energy status and physiological stability.The lowest total score is 19 and the highest is 57. A higher score indicates the presence of early feeding cues and a lower score indicates a decrease in early feeding cues.
Time frame: Third measurement-Third breastfeeding of the first day
Breastfeeding Identification and Assessment Scale (LATCH)
It is a measurement tool developed by Jansen and Wallece in 1993, which is similar to the APGAR scoring system in terms of scoring. Turkish validity and reliability studies of the LATCH breastfeeding diagnosis form were conducted by Demirhan in 1997, Koyun in 2001, and Yenal and Okumuş in 2003. Each criterion in the scale is given a score between 0 and 2 and the lowest score is 0 and the highest score is 10. An increase in the scores obtained from the scale indicates breastfeeding success.
Time frame: Third measurement-Third breastfeeding of the first day