Breastfeeding device measures babies’ milk intake in real time

While breastfeeding has many benefits for a mother and her baby, it has one major drawback: It’s incredibly difficult to know how much milk the baby is consuming.

To take the guesswork out of breastfeeding, an interdisciplinary team of engineers, neonatologists and pediatricians at Northwestern University has developed a new wearable device that can provide clinical-grade, continuous monitoring of breast milk consumption.

The unobtrusive device softly and comfortably wraps around the breast of a nursing mother during breastfeeding and wirelessly transmits data to a smartphone or tablet. The mother can then view a live graphical display of how much milk her baby has consumed in real time.

By eliminating uncertainty, the device can provide peace of mind for parents during their baby’s first days and weeks. In particular, the new technology could help reduce parental anxiety and improve clinical management of nutrition for vulnerable babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

To ensure its accuracy and practicality, the device endured several stages of rigorous assessments, including theoretical modelling, benchtop experiments and testing on a cohort of new mothers in the hospital.

“Knowing exactly how much milk an infant is receiving during breastfeeding has long been a challenge for both parents and healthcare providers,” said Northwestern’s John Rogers, who led the device development.

“This technology eliminates that uncertainty, offering a convenient and reliable way to monitor milk intake in real time, whether in the hospital or at home.”

“Uncertainty around whether an infant is getting sufficient nutrition can cause stress for families, especially for breastfeeding mothers with preterm infants in the NICU,” said Dr. Daniel Robinson, a Northwestern Medicine neonatologist and co-corresponding author of the study.

“Currently, only cumbersome ways exist for measuring how much milk a baby has consumed during breastfeeding, such as weighing the baby before and after they have fed. We expect this sensor to be a big advance in lactation support, reducing stress for families and increasing certainty for clinicians as infants make progress with breastfeeding but still need nutritional support.

“Reducing uncertainty and helping families achieve their breastfeeding goals will lead to healthier children, healthier mothers and healthier communities.”