The LATCH Breastfeeding Assessment Tool

The LATCH Breastfeeding Assessment Tool was developed in 1994.¹⁶ The validity and reliability study of the Turkish version of LATCH tool was conducted in 2003 by Yenal and Okumuş, and the Cronbach’s alpha value of the tool was found to be 0.95.¹⁷ The LATCH assigns a numerical score (0, 1, or 2) to 5 key breastfeeding components identified by the letters of the acronym LATCH: ‘‘L’’ is for how well the infant latches onto the breast, ‘‘A’’ is for the amount of audible swallowing noted, ‘‘T’’ is for the mother’s nipple type/condition, ‘‘C’’ is for the mother’s level of comfort, and ‘‘H’’ is for the amount of help the mother needs to hold her infant to the breast. The total score ranges from 0 to 10, with the higher score representing successful breastfeeding. Visitors were removed from the room during breastfeeding. We allowed at least 15 minutes time before scoring the sheets. The women who showed low LATCH scores at any point in our study were intervened by the lactation nurse as needed and a total score that is less than 10 indicates that the mother requires support.