Breastfeeding in Postpartum Mothers of Sick Newborns

Abstract

          Breastfeeding is crucial for the growth of newborn involving physical, emotional, and intelligent developments. Especially, in sick newborn, breast milk is as necessary as disease treatment. Breast milk is a main food, antibodies, and medicine for newborn.  When the postpartum mothers and their families have to encounter with the illness of newborns admitted to the NICU, they inevitably stress and anxiety. Nurses are health workers who care for postpartum mothers closely. The nurses should provide efficiency care for mothers and their families. However, breastfeeding for sick newborns are not easy and it is more difficulty than breastfeeding for normal babies.  Therefore, nurses need to be knowledgeable, recognizing the essential of breastfeeding in sick newborns, and proficient support the postpartum mothers for breastfeeding initiation. These practices will enhance the sick newborns’ health to be safety, recovery, and well-being.  The effective breastfeeding support providing by nurses thus promotes the quality of life for mothers, their newborns and families. This article is aimed to propose knowledge related breastfeeding in sick newborns. In order to promote breastfeeding in sick newborns, recommendations for postpartum nursing guidelines and nursing knowledge development are provided.