Cabbage leaves extract gel for breast engorgement during lactation

Abstract

Background: National surveys have found that painful breasts are the second most common reason to stop breastfeeding, with most mothers reporting the most intense breast engorgement after discharge from the hospital or health center. Many solutions to deal with breast swelling include a cabbage extract compress. In previous studies, cabbage leaves can treat breast swelling, but nothing has been made in more practical topical preparations such as gels. Objective: Making and testing cabbage gel to decrease breast engorgement. Methods: This is an experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. Respondents totaled 32 breastfeeding mothers on the second to tenth day, 16 were given cabbage gel 3.75 grams, and 16 were given breast care for 10 minutes. The intervention was carried out in the morning and evening for four days, and breast engorgement was measured using the Six Point Engorgement Scale (SPES) instrument. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test. Results: The results of breast treatment using cabbage gel were better than standard breast care, the swelling breast score decreased from the first to the fourth day from an average of 4.94 to 1.00, and the cabbage gel treatment was more effective for three days (p<0.05). Conclusion: Cabbage gel is suitable for reducing breast engorgement during breastfeeding.

Keywords

• lactation
• breast engorgement
• cabbage gel