Fernández-Tuñas, M.C.; Pérez-Muñuzuri, A.; Trastoy-Pena, R.; Pérez del Molino, M.L.; Couce, M.L. Effects of Maternal Stress on Breast Milk Production and the Microbiota of Very Premature Infants. Nutrients2023, 15, 4006.
Fernández-Tuñas, M.C.; Pérez-Muñuzuri, A.; Trastoy-Pena, R.; Pérez del Molino, M.L.; Couce, M.L. Effects of Maternal Stress on Breast Milk Production and the Microbiota of Very Premature Infants. Nutrients 2023, 15, 4006.
Fernández-Tuñas, M.C.; Pérez-Muñuzuri, A.; Trastoy-Pena, R.; Pérez del Molino, M.L.; Couce, M.L. Effects of Maternal Stress on Breast Milk Production and the Microbiota of Very Premature Infants. Nutrients2023, 15, 4006.
Fernández-Tuñas, M.C.; Pérez-Muñuzuri, A.; Trastoy-Pena, R.; Pérez del Molino, M.L.; Couce, M.L. Effects of Maternal Stress on Breast Milk Production and the Microbiota of Very Premature Infants. Nutrients 2023, 15, 4006.
Abstract
Perinatal stress experienced by mothers of very premature newborns may influence the mother’s milk and the infant’s intestinal microbiota. This prospective study of mothers of very preterm infants fed with mother´s own milk (MOM) was carried out in a tertiary hospital over a 2-year period. Assessment of maternal stress in 45 mothers of 52 very preterm newborns using the parental stress scale (PSS:NICU) that revealed an inverse relationship between stress and MOM production in the first days of life (p=0.012). The greatest contributor to stress was the one related to the establishment of mother-child bond. Maternal stress was lower in mothers in whom the kangaroo method was established early (p=0.011) and in those with a higher educational level (p=0.032). Levels of fecal calprotectin (FC) decrease with the passage of days and were directly correlated with birthweight (p=0.044). FC levels 7 days post-delivery were lower in newborns that received postnatal antibiotics (p=0.027). High levels of maternal stress resulted in progressive decreases and increases in the proportions of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria species, respectively, over 15 days post-delivery, both in MOM and in fecal samples from premature newborns. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing and appropriately managing maternal stress in neonatal units, given its marked influence on both the microbiota of maternal milk and the intestinal microbiota of premature newborns.
Keywords
fecal calprotectin; maternal stress; microbiota; mother´s own milk; very preterm
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Dietetics and Nutrition
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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