Implementation of an evidence-based trauma-focused treatment for traumatised children and their families during the war in Ukraine: a project description.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 led to an increase of traumatic events and mental health burden in the Ukrainian general population. The (ongoing) traumatisation can have a crucial impact on children and adolescents as they are especially vulnerable for developing trauma-related disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Depression. To date, these children have only very limited access to trauma-focused evidence-based treatments (EBTs) by trained mental health specialists in Ukraine.

Importance of vacuum for breastmilk expression.

Objective: To determine the effect of the strength of applied vacuum on the flow rate and yield of breastmilk using an electric breast pump.

Study Design: Twenty-one breastfeeding mothers and two expressing mothers expressed their breastmilk for 15 minutes using an electric breast pump set at their own maximum comfortable vacuum, and at one to three softer vacuums. Milk yield and flow rate were measured.

Milk flow rates can be used to identify and investigate milk ejection in women expressing breast milk using an electric breast pump.

Currently there is no simple method available to assess milk ejection and breast milk flow in lactating women in both the clinical and research setting. The authors hypothesize that changes in milk flow rate are associated with milk ejection and therefore may provide a method suitable for the assessment of milk ejection and removal. Mothers (n = 23) expressed milk from one breast for a 15-minute period using both weak and strong vacuums on two to four separate occasions using an experimental electric breast pump (Medela AG, Baar, Switzerland).

The use of ultrasound to characterize milk ejection in women using an electric breast pump.

This study aimed to use ultrasound imaging to investigate the milk ejection characteristics of women during a 10-minute expression using an electric breast pump capable of applying 2 markedly different vacuum patterns. The classic pattern (47 cycles/min) and 3-phase pattern (pre-milk ejection: 120 cycles/min, post-milk ejection: 20 cycles/min for 2 minutes post-milk ejection then 55-78 cycles/min for 8 minutes) were tested, and the milk expressed was collected in 30-second intervals. Multiple milk ejections (96%) were detected (classic: 3.

Response of breasts to different stimulation patterns of an electric breast pump.

To test the effect on milk ejection, an electric breast pump was programmed to provide pumping patterns with frequencies of 45 to 125 cycles/min and vacuums of 45 to -273 mm Hg. The time taken for milk ejection to occur (measured using ultrasound to detect a dilation of a lactiferous duct in the opposite breast) in response to the current Medela electric breast pump pattern (45 cycles/min) was 147 +/- 13 s. For patterns that more closely resemble the sucking frequency of an infant when it first attaches to the breast, milk ejection occurred between 136 +/- 12 and 104 +/- 10 s, although this difference was not statistically significant.

Effect of vacuum profile on breast milk expression using an electric breast pump.

The authors compared milk expression using 5 experimental vacuum patterns and a commercially available vacuum pattern ranging in cycle times (20 to 78 cycles/min) and vacuum curve dynamics in 30 mothers using an experimental, software-controlled electric breast pump. The volume of milk removed over 5 minutes differed (P = .0072) between patterns (range = 62.

Efficacy of breast milk expression using an electric breast pump.

The authors compared breastfeeding and expression characteristics in 30 mothers of exclusively breastfeeding, healthy term infants. Mean (+/- SD) volume per breastfeed from one breast was 71.8 +/- 26.