Survey As a Contextual Design Method Applied to Breastfeeding Wearables for Mothers Caring for Infants in NICUs

Abstract

Preterm and critically ill infants are treated in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), where human milk is increasingly recommended and prescribed to this population as a medical intervention [1]. However, due to the medical acuity and complex character of caring for preterm infants, sometimes feeding at the breast is not possible. When feeding at the breast is not possible medical devices or commercial products may influence a mothers’ decision to express human milk for her NICU infant. Feeding human milk to infants cared for in NICUs reduces rates of mortality by decreasing instances of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) especially for extremely low birthweight infants [2] and is implicated in reducing incidence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity [3].