Exclusive breastmilk pumping: A concept analysis

AIM: To analyze and examine the concept of exclusive breast pumping (EP). BACKGROUND: Breastmilk is the ideal nutrition for infants, yet when breastfeeding is unsuccessful, parents resort to informal breastmilk sharing, artificial formula feeding, or EP. A growing proportion of families exclusively pump yet they often receive guidance from social media rather than healthcare providers because healthcare providers are uninformed about this feeding method. DATA SOURCE: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases were searched using the following keywords: human milk express*, breast express*, breast milk express, breastmilk express*, exclusive pump, exclusive breast pumping, and exclusive expression. REVIEW METHODS: Concept analysis design using Walker and Avant's method. RESULTS: Three defining attributes of (1) absence of direct breastfeeding, (2) breastmilk expression, (3) and an enduring infant feeding pattern of feeding expressed breastmilk only via a bottle were identified. All three attributes are required to confirm the presence of the concept of exclusive pumping. Definitions, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents are described. Model and contrary cases are discussed. CONCLUSION: This exclusive pumping concept analysis allows for consistency in terminology in practice and research. EP is a feeding method which can increase the proportion of infants who are fed breastmilk and may reduce the risks that arise from artificial formula feeding.