Infant stimulation reduces weight loss and increases breastfeeding: a randomized controlled trial.
Lucy Marcela Vesga Gualdrón, María Mercedes Durán de Villalobos, Nancy Milena Bernal Camargo
PMID 35485618WHAT IT FOUND
Basic sucking counts and timing did not differ, but milk volume, exclusive breastfeeding at week 5, and weight gain were higher after home sensory stimulation.
Key findings
01Milk expressed per effective suckling was higher in the experimental group at week 2 (7.19 cc/TES versus 5.17 cc/TES) and at week 5 (14.19 cc/TES versus 8.67 cc/TES).
02Exclusive breastfeeding was 88.9% in the experimental group and 71.7% in the control group at week 5.
03Daily weight gain was 12.69 g/day in the experimental group and 4.34 g/day in the control group at week 2, and 33.29 versus 29.10 g/day at week 5.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a secondary analysis of a larger trial, and only nutrition-related outcomes were reported. Follow-up was short, only to week 5. The study analysed 107 dyads after about 10.8% were lost to follow-up. The study did not receive funding, which may limit resources and follow-up. Several possible influences on weight gain and breastfeeding were not controlled, including environmental pollution, tobacco metabolites, intake of other liquids, and time of exclusive breastfeeding. Early initiation of breastfeeding was not a hospital policy and was not controlled. The trial included only first-time mothers with healthy full-term infants, so it says little about other mothers or infants.
Declared interests
The authors reported budget limitations and said the study did not receive any funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that sensory stimulation alone caused the better weight gain or breastfeeding, because the experimental group also received standard care and basic sucking counts and timing did not differ.