The Effects of Using the Thai Ways Program to Stimulate Lactation on the Amount and Duration of Milk Flow in Postpartum Mothers

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to compare the effects of using the Thai Ways program to stimulate lactation on the amounts and durations of milk flow in postpartum mothers. Study participants were 130 first-time mothers at 4 hours after normal delivery with normal vital signs; and they were purposively selected from those 21–35 years of age and randomly divided into five groups: 1) control group, 2) experimental group that drank boiled ginger drinks, 3) experimental group that received breast massage, 4) experimental group that received breast herbal compression, and 5) experimental group that received all treatments. Each of the experimental groups received one treatment that lasted 15 minutes, and their milk volumes were measured every hour after the experiment until 4 hours had passed. Data collection instruments were a questionnaire and a milk-volume record form. Milk quantity data were collected and analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation, paired t-tests, and one-way ANOVA statistics. The results showed that, when comparing the differences in the volumes of maternal postpartum milk flow in the 2nd to 5th treatment groups from pre-program until the end of the 4-hour study period, the mean milk volumes were 0.63 ± 0.18, 2.01 ± 0.26, 2.94 ± 0.22, 4.54 ± 0.97 mL, respectively, and were significantly different from that in the control group (p < 0.05), which had a mean milk volume of 0.16 ± 0.09 mL. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of the Thai Ways program to increase breast-milk flow at 4 hours after delivery could boost the amount of milk flow more rapidly from the first hour of the program with an average increase of 2.15 mL per hour. Thus, this program will be an alternative for promoting breastfeeding in health-care facilities.