Effect of Mother-Newborn Care Unit on breast-feeding practices of small and sick neonates

Abstract

Background
Breast milk is an ideal nutrition for the small and sick babies. Breast milk enhances the baby’s immune system and reduces the risk of infection & other health issues. Mother Newborn Care Unit (MNCU) is a facility where sick and small babies are cared with their mothers 24 × 7 with all facilities of level II newborn care and provision for postnatal care to mothers. This may provide opportunity to improve early and effective breast milk feeding
Methodology
A prospective cohort study was conducted at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi from August 2020 to March 2021.
Objective
The objective of the study was to check the effect of the mother newborn care unit (MNCU) on breastfeeding practices among small and sick babies.
Result
The study outcomes show the positive effect of MNCU on breastfeeding rather than conventional care in NICU. 82.57% of babies in MNCU and 59.55% of babies in the NICU were reached on the full breastfeeding at day 7 of life. 88.63 % of babies in MNCU had exclusive breastmilk feed at the time of discharge, while in the NICU it was 69.85%, shows a significant difference between both the groups.
Conclusion
Mother newborn care unit (MNCU) is a novel approach to care for the small and sick babies with a positive impact on breastfeeding practices.