New Wearable Breastfeeding Tech Tracks Baby’s Milk Intake in Realtime

When Julia Seitchik gave birth to her first daughter she weighed less than five pounds. “I was so nervous that we would have to go back to the hospital if she didn’t gain weight,” she recalled. Like many NICU parents—or even those simply anxious about baby getting back to birth weight—she found the uncertainty around breastfeeding especially stressful. Unlike bottle feeding, where intake is easy to track, breastfeeding often leaves parents wondering: Is baby getting enough?

Now, researchers at Northwestern University may have a breakthrough answer. A team of engineers, neonatologists and pediatricians has developed the first wearable, nonivasive breastfeeding device that wraps gently around the breast and offers clinical-grade, real-time monitoring of milk intake.

The device works by sending a tiny, safe electrical current through the breast using two small pads, or electrodes, placed on the skin. Another pair of electrodes captures the voltage difference associated with that current. As baby drinks milk, the changing volume alters the breast’s electrical properties—a change that is subtle but measurable. The electrodes record this voltage shift and transmit the data wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet, where parents can view a live display of how much milk baby has consumed.

After building prototypes, the team tested the device with 12 breastfeeding moms—both in the NICU and at home—over periods of up to 17 weeks. To check how well the device worked, moms wore the sensor while pumping in the early stages. The results? The milk measured by the device closely matched what ended up in the bottle, showing strong accuracy from the start.

Seitchik, who got a chance to participate in the study when pregnant with her third child Harry, told researchers that having the device would’ve been a game changer when feeding her first daughter. “The doctors did a great job, but having a device like this would have been so nice. It would have let me know exactly how much milk she was getting in the first few days of her life. That would have been really beneficial and helped us become better parents,” she said.

Looking ahead, researchers hope to make the device even more parent-friendly by building it into nursing bras for easy, hands-free use. They’re also working on future versions that won’t just track how much milk baby drinks, but how quickly the breast refills, giving parents a better understanding of their milk supply over time.

“Uncertainty around whether an infant is getting sufficient nutrition can cause stress for families, especially for breastfeeding mothers with preterm infants in the NICU,” said Dr. Daniel Robinson, a Northwestern Medicine neonatologist and co-corresponding author of the study.

“Currently, only cumbersome ways exist for measuring how much milk a baby has consumed during breastfeeding, such as weighing the baby before and after they have fed," he said. "We expect this sensor to be a big advance in lactation support, reducing stress for families and increasing certainty for clinicians as infants make progress with breastfeeding but still need nutritional support. Reducing uncertainty and helping families achieve their breastfeeding goals will lead to healthier children, healthier mothers and healthier communities.”