# Human Milk and Direct Breastfeeding for Infants with Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease: An Analysis of Prevalence, Supportive and Limiting Factors, and Impact on Key Outcomes

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2022 · $49,252

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly, affecting nearly 1 in 100 infants.
Feeding is a primary area of concern for these infants, as feeding problems are associated with poor surgical
and developmental outcomes and are often more concerning to families than the cardiac condition. Infants with
single ventricle (SV) CHD undergo a series of 3 staged childhood surgeries and are at particularly high risk for
feeding-related morbidity and mortality. Despite the key role feeding plays in outcomes for infants with SV
CHD, research in this area is limited. Human milk feeding (parent’s own milk or donor human milk) and direct
breastfeeding (human milk via a latch at the breast) have been identified as practices particularly in need of
high-quality evidence to drive practice and policy. The strongest evidence supports exclusive human milk
feeding as a life-saving intervention due to reduced risk for necrotizing enterocolitis. Direct breastfeeding
supports cardiorespiratory stability during feeding, improves human milk feeding duration, and is preferred by
most birthing persons. However, only 1 report of exclusive human milk feeding for infants with SV CHD exists
(15% at stage 1 palliation surgery [S1P] discharge), and rates of direct breastfeeding are unknown. From the
limited data, it appears these infants are far from the Healthy People 2030 objective of 42.4% exclusive
breastfeeding through 6 months. The purpose of this study is to address the critical gap in knowledge about
human milk feeding and direct breastfeeding for infants with SV CHD. Specifically, this study aims to: 1)
Determine the prevalence of human milk feeding and direct breastfeeding for infants with SV CHD during the
S1P hospitalization, at S1P discharge, and at stage 2 palliation surgery (S2P); 2) Identify factors that are
positively and negatively associated with human milk feeding and direct breastfeeding at S1P discharge and at
S2P; and 3) Estimate the effect size of human milk feeding and direct breastfeeding on key outcomes for
infants with SV CHD, including necrotizing enterocolitis, postoperative complications, time to full feeding
volume, length of stay, unplanned readmission, and mortality. The study aims will be accomplished through
secondary analysis of a multisite registry (sample size ~2000) from the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality
Improvement Collaborative (~60 sites), which consists of data from 2016–2021. At the completion of this study,
we expect to have gained a clearer understanding of current rates of these feeding practices; identified
supportive and limiting factors; and determined associations with key outcomes. This study is significant
because it has the potential to inform much-needed clinical guidelines in this area, and could support our long-
term research goal of developing culturally-responsive, family-centered interventions that improve the low rates
of human milk feeding and direct breastfeedi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10535335
- **Project number:** 1F31NR020577-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Kristin M Elgersma
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $49,252
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10535335

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10535335, Human Milk and Direct Breastfeeding for Infants with Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease: An Analysis of Prevalence, Supportive and Limiting Factors, and Impact on Key Outcomes (1F31NR020577-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10535335. Licensed CC0.

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