Abstract 729 Poster Session IV, Tuesday, 5/4 (poster 15)

When preterm (PT) infants are transitioned from 1-2 daily breastfeedings (BrF) in the NICU to cuebased exclusive BrF in the home, they may be vulnerable to underconsumption of milk. Although accurate portable infant scales allow mothers to perform in-home measurement of milk intake (IHMMI) by test-weighing, clinicians feel that this intervention increases maternal anxiety and may cause BrF cessation during this period. This prospective randomized trial tested the effect of mothers performing IHMMI for all BrFs during the first 4 wks post-NICU discharge (DC) on BrF concerns at 1, 2, and 4 wks and amount of at-breast feeding at 4 wks post-NICU DC. Methods. Forty-eight mothers (30±6 y) whose infants were born ≤36 wks gestation (33±2 wks), birth weight (2332±468 g) were recruited. All mothers received standardized hospital-based BrF services during the NICU stay, and planned to continue BrF in the home. Within one week of anticipated infant DC, the sample was stratified by gestational age (30-33 wks vs 34-36 wks) and assigned randomly to an intervention or control group. Intervention mothers (IM; n=24) measured and recorded milk intake during BrFs with the BabyWeigh scale (Medela;McHenry,IL); control mothers (CM; n=22) assigned a subjective measure of intake to each BrF. All mothers maintained a feeding diary recording all BrFs, complements and supplements, wet diapers and stools. Maternal BrF concerns were measured by an 11-item Likert-type instrument at infant DC, and in the home at 1, 2, and 4 wks post-NICU DC. Results. No differences between the IM and CM were noted for maternal demographic variables, infant DC wt(2247±297 vs 2417±344 g), or age (23±2 vs 23±1 d). Maternal BrF concerns were significantly different at 1 wk post-NICU DC. IM mothers were less concerned about when (p=0.05) and how much (P=0.04) extra milk their infants needed. At 4 wks post-NICU DC, IM mothers reported that the IHMMI intervention was extremely (48%) or very (52%) helpful, and 61% were comfortable with performing IHMMI. Exclusive/partial and no BrF rates, respectively, for IM (79% and 21%) and CM (73% and 27%) groups were similar. Conclusion. These findings indicate that IHMMI did not increase maternal anxiety, nor did it increase BrF cessation rates at 4 wks post-NICU DC. On the contrary, IHMMI may significantly decrease maternal BrF concerns about the need to give extra milk during the first week post-NICU DC. partially funded by Medela,Inc./McHenry,IL