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Breastfeeding the Late Preterm Infant: Supporting Parents with the Challenges of Breastfeeding a Late Preterm Infant

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Late Preterm Infants

Abstract

Late preterm infants (LPIs) have specific vulnerabilities and increased risk for breastfeeding difficulties and hospital readmission, particularly within the first 2 weeks after birth. Breastfeeding the LPI can present multiple challenges for parents, nurses, lactation consultants (LCs), and healthcare providers (HCPs), including physiological instability (hypothermia, hypoglycemia, respiratory distress, and excessive or extended jaundice) and feeding immaturities (weak, ineffective, and uncoordinated suck and swallow patterns, fatigue with feedings, increased sleepiness, ineffective latch, and inadequate milk transfer), along with difficulty establishing maternal milk supply. These challenges warrant awareness, discussion, and tailored interventions to increase breastfeeding success and to decrease LPI feeding-related morbidity and rehospitalization. This chapter will include suggestions for managing breastfeeding difficulties for parents of LPIs and HCPs in both the postpartum hospital environment and home or community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Genevieve Currie

  2. Department of Nursing, Francis Marion University, Florence, SC, USA

    Allison C. Munn

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Sarah N. Taylor

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  1. Genevieve Currie
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  2. Allison C. Munn
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Correspondence to Genevieve Currie .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Shahirose Sadrudin Premji

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Currie, G., Munn, A.C., Taylor, S.N. (2019). Breastfeeding the Late Preterm Infant: Supporting Parents with the Challenges of Breastfeeding a Late Preterm Infant. In: Premji, S. (eds) Late Preterm Infants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94352-7_7

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