Background The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting normal life globally, every area of life is touched. The pandemic demands quick action and as new information emerges, reliable synthesises and guidelines for care are urgently needed. Breastfeeding protects mother and child; its health benefits are undisputed and based on evidence. To plan and support breastfeeding within the current pandemic, two areas need to be understood: 1) the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 as it applies to breastfeeding and 2) the protective properties of breastfeeding, including the practice of skin-to-skin care. This review aims to summarise how to manage breastfeeding during COVID-19. The summary was used to create guidelines for healthcare professionals and mothers. Methods Current publications on breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic were reviewed to inform guidelines for clinical practice. Results Current evidence states that the Coronavirus is not transmitted via breastmilk. Breastfeeding benefits outweigh possible risks during the COVID-19 pandemic and may even protect the infant and mother. General infection control measures should be in place and adhered to very strictly. Conclusions Breastfeeding should be encouraged, mothers and infant dyads should be cared for together, and skin-to-skin contact ensured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. If mothers are too ill to breastfeed, they should still be supported to express their milk, and the infant should be fed by a healthy individual. Guidelines, based on this current evidence, were produced and can be distributed to health care facilities where accessible information is needed.
Preterm infants are usually breastfed less than full-term infants, and successful breastfeeding requires a supportive environment and special efforts from their mothers. A breastfeeding peer-support group, utilising social media, was developed for these mothers in order to support them in this challenge. Mothers were able to discuss breastfeeding and share experiences. The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of breastfeeding mothers of preterm infants based on the postings in peer-support group discussions in social media. The actively participating mothers (n = 22) had given birth <35 gestational weeks. They were recruited from one university hospital in Finland. The social media postings (n = 305) were analysed using thematic analysis. A description of the process of breastfeeding a preterm infant from the point of view of a mother was created. The process consisted of three main themes: the breastfeeding paradox in hospital, the 'reality check' of breastfeeding at home and the breastfeeding experience as part of being a mother. The mothers encountered paradoxical elements in the support received in hospital; discharge was promoted at the expense of breastfeeding and pumping breast milk was emphasised over breastfeeding. After the infant's discharge, the over-optimistic expectations of mothers often met with reality - mothers did not have the knowledge or skills to manage breastfeeding at home. Successful breastfeeding was an empowering experience for the mothers, whereas unsuccessful breastfeeding induced feelings of disappointment. Therefore, the mothers of preterm infants need evidence-based breastfeeding counselling and systematic support in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and at home.
Background Assessment of sleep quality is essential to address poor sleep quality and understand changes. Owing to the advances in the Internet of Things and wearable technologies, sleep monitoring under free-living conditions has become feasible and practicable. Smart rings and smartwatches can be employed to perform mid- or long-term home-based sleep monitoring. However, the validity of such wearables should be investigated in terms of sleep parameters. Sleep validation studies are mostly limited to short-term laboratory tests; there is a need for a study to assess the sleep attributes of wearables in everyday settings, where users engage in their daily routines. Objective This study aims to evaluate the sleep parameters of the Oura ring along with the Samsung Gear Sport watch in comparison with a medically approved actigraphy device in a midterm everyday setting, where users engage in their daily routines. Methods We conducted home-based sleep monitoring in which the sleep parameters of 45 healthy individuals (23 women and 22 men) were tracked for 7 days. Total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), and wake after sleep onset (WASO) of the ring and watch were assessed using paired t tests, Bland-Altman plots, and Pearson correlation. The parameters were also investigated considering the gender of the participants as a dependent variable. Results We found significant correlations between the ring’s and actigraphy’s TST (r=0.86; P<.001), WASO (r=0.41; P<.001), and SE (r=0.47; P<.001). Comparing the watch with actigraphy showed a significant correlation in TST (r=0.59; P<.001). The mean differences in TST, WASO, and SE of the ring and actigraphy were within satisfactory ranges, although there were significant differences between the parameters (P<.001); TST and SE mean differences were also within satisfactory ranges for the watch, and the WASO was slightly higher than the range (31.27, SD 35.15). However, the mean differences of the parameters between the watch and actigraphy were considerably higher than those of the ring. The watch also showed a significant difference in TST (P<.001) between female and male groups. Conclusions In a sample population of healthy adults, the sleep parameters of both the Oura ring and Samsung watch have acceptable mean differences and indicate significant correlations with actigraphy, but the ring outperforms the watch in terms of the nonstaging sleep parameters.
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