A Comparative Analysis of Macronutrient Composition in Breast Milk Expressed by Three Different Methods

Abstract

Background: This study aims to compare the macronutrient content of mature breast milk expressed by three different methods: hand expression, manual pump, and electric pump. Methods: This experimental study includes 31 mothers of term infants who met the inclusion criteria. Milk samples were collected on three different days using each expression method, following randomization and standardized procedures. All samples were frozen and later analyzed using the Miris (R) Human Milk Analyzer (HMATM) to determine fat, protein, carbohydrate, and energy values. Statistical analysis was conducted using R software (version 4.4.1). Results: The mean age of the mothers was 23 +/- 4 years, and 35.5% were middle school graduates. The average energy content was 74.5, 72.3, and 71.7 kcal/100 mL for hand, electric pump, and manual pump expression, respectively. Lactose levels were 7.2, 7.1, and 7.2 g/100 mL; fat content was 4.3, 4.0, and 3.9 g/100 mL; and true protein was 1.2 g/100 mL across all methods. There were no statistically significant differences in any of the measured macronutrients among the three expression methods (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study found no significant differences in the energy, lactose, fat, or true protein content of breast milk expressed by hand, manual pump, or electric pump. This finding indicates that, regardless of mothers' economic status or access to equipment, any method of milk expression can be effectively used to provide breast milk, provided that the technique is applied correctly.