Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Committee Chair
Darlene Showalter
Subject(s)
Breastfeeding promotion, Breast milk--Collection and preservation
Abstract
Exclusive breastfeeding is a metric that hospitals nationwide work to improve. It is recommended that newborns breastfeed exclusively for at least the first six months to one year. There are several long-term health benefits and impacts for the new mother-baby couplet. Although touted as the most natural way to feed your baby, it is not always easy. Prenatal breastfeeding intention and education are associated with increased rates of exclusivity and duration. The breastfeeding journey is a process unique to the couplet experiencing it. Worldwide, the rates of newborns who exclusively breastfeed are below the World Health Assembly’s 2030 target of 70%. Connecticut’s statewide average is 48%, and only 36% at Bridgeport Hospital. The Newborn Intensive Care Unit offers pasteurized donor human milk (PDHM) for supplementation if the mother’s milk is insufficient. This option is not available for well-newborns. After an extensive literature review, PDHM for supplementation was found to be an intervention that improved exclusive breastfeeding. Implementation of a PDHM protocol will promote a clinical practice change that improves consistency for the agency’s Care Signature. Staff education was a key component of a stepwise approach aimed at ensuring success. Ramona Mercer’s Maternal Role Attainment and Becoming a Mother Theory was used as a foundational guide for this project. Exclusive breastfeeding data was collected and analyzed. Sixty staff participated in implementing this protocol, which was available to every patient regardless of race, ethnicity, primary language or insurance status, in an effort to promote health equity, safety and advocacy. The three-month average exclusive breastfeeding rate was 35%. During the three-month implementation period, the average exclusivity rate increased to 40%. In addition, among PDHM users, 89% remained exclusive during the birth hospitalization, which would not have been possible before this project. This protocol was useful in enhancing the overall exclusive breastfeeding average and is sustainable by making the protocol a standard operating procedure, incorporating the education into all new hires’ competency-based orientation, and merging the exclusivity and PDHM reports into one seamless report. Bridgeport Hospital is almost at the Healthy People 2030 goal of 42.4% in three months.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Theresa, "Implementing a donor human milk protocol to improve exclusive breastfeeding rates" (2024). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). 125.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dnp/125