¶ … Breastfeeding #NAS #Neonates Opioid use and dependency has become a serious problem in the U.S. Research has shown that opioid-dependent women run significantly high risks of giving birth to children with NAS. Children with NAS face some serious health complications, and stay in the hospital longer than normal children. Studies have, however, shown that breastfeeding could help minimize the severity of NAS symptoms among neonates. This text reviews an article seeking to demonstrate how breastfeeding does this, and the specific strategies that nurses and clinicians could use to promote breastfeeding among opioid-dependent mothers in their care.

Breastfeeding Promotion for Management of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)

Summary

The article is focused on one group of at-risk neonates -- those whose mothers are opioid-dependent. Research has shown neonates born to opioid-dependent women to run higher risks of developing the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) than those born to non-users. Neonates with NAS display gastrointestinal dysfunction, respiratory distress, central nervous system hyperirritability, and vague autonomic symptoms such as fever, mottled color, sneezing, and yawning. Moreover, compared to their counterparts without the syndrome, such neonates run a higher likelihood of receiving pharmacological treatments with extended hospital stays, which basically translates to higher treatment and upkeep costs. Breastfeeding has been shown to be an effective component of treatment in neonates with NAS. For this reason, the author advocates for the promotion of breast feeding among opioid-dependent women in clinical settings as a way of maximizing the health outcomes of infants with NAS. Breastfeeding encourages maternal-infant bonding, and allows mothers to take an active role in the management...

Moreover, the component elements of breast milk provide neonates with passive immunity, thereby shortening the duration of NAS treatment, as well as their duration of stay in the hospital.
The article recommends a number of strategies that clinicians could use to support breastfeeding in their care settings. First, it recommends that clinicians devise effective structured breastfeeding programs and policies to help opioid-dependent mothers understand the benefits of breastfeeding in reducing the severity of NAS symptoms, and to consequently take steps to breastfeed their infants for a minimum of six months. The article also recommends safe bed-sharing (bed in-rooming), pumped breast milk, skin-to-skin contact, and swaddling as strategies for promoting breastfeeding among opioid-dependent mothers. Initiating skin-to-skin contact between mothers and their infants at birth stimulates the release of oxytocin, which creates an immediate intimate relationship between the mother and their child, causing the former to be more likely to breastfeed their infant. Elsewhere, research has shown that one of the reasons why mothers shun from breastfeeding their infants is nipple pain and discomfort --towards this end, the author recommends that nurses and clinicians encourage women who are afraid of breastfeeding to use pumps to provide their neonates with expressed breast milk.

He further proposes that clinicians encourage the use of methadone and buprenoprhine replacement therapies among pregnant opioid-dependent women to minimize their use of opioids. These therapies minimize the risk of NAS in neonates and have not been shown to have any negative effects on infants during breastfeeding. The author concludes that these strategies, combined, would go a long way towards minimizing the risk…