Breastfeeding and rooming-in in the management of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Scoping review

Abstract

At present, more babies are born with neonatal abstinence syndrome due to the increased use of certain sub-stances by their mothers while pregnant. The therapeutic approaches for this syndrome vary in clinical practice, and in some centres, breastfeeding and rooming-in are inter-rupted. The aim of this work was to analyse the effects of breastfeeding and rooming-in in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome by conducting a scoping review of the related literature in PubMed and CINAHL. Eleven papers were included, which showed that breast-feeding and rooming-in reduced hospital stay and the need for and duration of pharmacological treatment. In addi-tion, rooming-in decreased the likelihood of admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, although there was no improvement of the severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome signs. Breastfed infants had milder withdrawal signs and, although they were more likely to be readmitted than formula-fed infants were, there were no statistically signif-icant differences. There was no evidence that rooming-in decreased hospital readmission after discharge. Our findings support the maintenance of cohabitation and breastfeeding whenever possible in the management of this neonatal abstinence syndrome, so as not to worsen the conditions of the neonate, while introducing measures to ensure mother-child safety.