[Assisting mother with preterm infant breastfeeding]

Abstract

It is necessary to gain nutrition for infants, especially premature. The digestive systems of premature infants are immature, so they find it hard to absorb nutrients. Mother's milk is easy for preterm infants to digest and absorb, so it is the best food for them. In reality, however, mothers always face many problems when breastfeeding preterm infants. They need support systems to establish their confidence in breastfeeding in order to improve their success rates and thus facilitate their continuation of the practice. Nurses can teach mothers how to breastfeed preterm infants. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to describe the characteristics of the gastrointestinal systems of premature babies, the benefits of breastfeeding for premature babies, the factors influencing premature breastfeeding, the transition from gavage to oral feeding and how to assist the mothers of premature babies with breastfeeding. It also provides information on premature breastfeeding to enable nurses to provide early assistance to mothers in nursing their premature infants and in maintaining the practice of breastfeeding.