Demographic profile of 266 mother-infant dyads presenting to a multidisciplinary breast-feeding clinic: a descriptive study

Worldwide, sustained breastfeeding rates are lower than optimal. Mothers and infants with suboptimal breastfeeding present to a wide variety of practitioners to assist their goal of total breastfeeding. To support these mother-infant dyads, a multi-disciplinary chiropractic and midwifery feeding clinic was opened alongside a chiropractic teaching clinic in England. To improve understanding of the presentation and clinical needs of these nursing dyads, a descriptive study was developed. This paper provides an overview of the cases that presented to this clinic over nine months, with a focus on feeding difficulties, birth and musculoskeletal problems in the infant. Mothers frequently reported more than one type of feeding problem, which most commonly included difficulty attaching, painful feeding, and a one sided feeding preference. Birth intervention was more common in this population than the national averages, particularly forceps deliveries. Musculoskeletal problems were prevalent in the babies presented to the feeding clinic, most commonly of the thoracic spine, cervical spine and sternocleidomastoid. Although causation cannot be established from this type of study, intervention at birth, feeding difficulties and musculoskeletal problems frequently coexisted in these infants. Therefore, including musculoskeletal care for infants as part of support for suboptimal breastfeeding may be appropriate