Strengths and limitations
human milk volume and preterm infant weight, human milk
A key strength of this study is that it is the first to determine the effect of Pimpinella Anisum herbal tea on human milk volume and preterm infant weight in human populations. Limitations include the individual differences in milk production. By allocating the participants in the study groups in a random manner, variable effects may be somewhat mitigated. Due to the prevalence of covid-19 pandemic and the use of home-prepared foods by those hospitalized, it was virtually impossible to standardize the intake of foods that may have a lactating effect. Thus, our findings should be interpreted with caution. However, those who used any additional galactagogues (human milk inducers/enhancers) were excluded from the study, though the supplementation of iron and multivitamins are recommended from the 16th week of pregnancy until three months after giving birth. The present study could not be performed with an intervention duration longer than 7 days, after which time the preterm infant is typically fed human milk directly (rather than being tube fed), and thus the recording of milk production/volume becomes impossible. Future studies of this nature may usefully involve mature infants, allowing for longer intervention periods.