The Effect of Circular and Oscillating Breast Massage on the Amount of Breast Milk Produced: An Innovative Method

Background: In addition to suffering stress and anxiety owing to being separated from their babies, mothers whose babies are hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units suffer breastfeeding problems. Moreover, their breast milk production may decrease over time. Objective: Examining the effect of circular and oscillating breast massage on the amount of breast milk produced. Materials and Methods: This randomized controlled experimental study used a pretest–posttest model. The participants included 120 mothers (experimental group: 60, control group: 60) who went to a breast milk pumping unit of a hospital between December 1, 2017, and July 31, 2019. A circular and oscillating breast massage device was used to massage both breasts for 10 to 15 minutes, three times a day, for 3 days, and milk production was measured daily. The sociodemographic characteristics, perceptions regarding breast massage, and daily breast milk amounts of the mothers were collected. Results: The average age of the mothers that participated in the study was 30.21 ± 5.58 years; the average birth week of their babies was 32.31 ± 4.10 weeks. There were no significant differences in the mothers' amounts of milk production before the procedure in the experimental and control groups. In the study group, milk production increased by 7.92%, 5.25%, and 5.02% on days 1, 2, and 3 of the procedure, respectively. The mothers' total amount of milk production before and after the procedure (3 days) increased by 22.28%. Significant differences were found between the study groups on days 1, 2, and 3 and the total amount of milk produced after the procedure. Conclusion: Our study found circular and oscillating breast massage increased the amount of breast milk produced and decreased breast pain and swelling. Similar studies on the clinical use of this treatment should be conducted in line with the results of this study.