Influence of the support offered to breastfeeding by maternity hospitals

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the support offered by maternity hospitals is associated with higher prevalences of exclusive and predominant breastfeeding.METHODS This is a cross-sectional study including a representative sample of 916 infants less than six months who were born in maternity hospitals, in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, 2011. The maternity hospitals were evaluated in relation to their fulfillment of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Data were collected regarding breastfeeding patterns, the birth hospital and other characteristics. The individualized effect of the study factor on exclusive and predominant breastfeeding was analyzed using Poisson multiple regression with robust variance.RESULTS Predominant breastfeeding tended to be more prevalent when the number of fulfilled steps was higher (p of linear trend = 0.057). The step related to not offering artificial teats or pacifiers to breastfed infants and that related to encouraging the establishment of breastfeeding support groups were associated, respectively, to a higher prevalence of exclusive (PR = 1.26; 95%CI 1.04;1.54) and predominant breastfeeding (PR = 1.55; 95%CI 1.01;2.39), after an adjustment was performed for confounding variables.CONCLUSIONS We observed a positive association between support offered by maternity hospitals and prevalences of exclusive and predominant breastfeeding. These results can be useful to other locations with similar characteristics (cities with hospitals that fulfill the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding) to provide incentive to breastfeeding, by means of promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding in maternity hospitals.

Prospective questionnaire study showed that higher self‐efficacy predicted longer exclusive breastfeeding by the mothers of late preterm infants

“…We found that exclusive breastfeeding was more common in infants who did not use a pacifier and this agreed with previous research that showed that not using a pacifier in infants who were younger than six months increased both exclusive and predominant breastfeeding (27). Our results further showed that it was more common for infants who bed-shared with their parents to be exclusively or at least partially breastfed.…”

Combined pro‐breastfeeding practices are advantageous in facilities providing maternity and newborn services

“…All the practices assessed are, to some extent, included in the BFHI Ten Steps. Thus, this study corroborates previous investigations that have shown a positive impact of the BFHI on breastfeeding indicators (Braun et al, ; Coutinho, Lima Mde, Ashworth, & Lira, ; de Oliveira, Camacho, & Tedstone, ; Lamounier et al, ; Passanha, Benicio, Venancio, & Reis, ; Perez‐Escamilla, Martinez, & Segura‐Perez, ; Venancio, Saldiva, Escuder, & Giugliani, ). This impact has already been demonstrated also in the city where the present study was carried out (Braun et al, ) and in Brazil as a whole (Venancio, Saldiva, Escuder, & Giugliani, ).…”

Coorte retrospectiva de crianças e adolescentes hospitalizados por COVID-19 no Brasil do início da pandemia a 1º de agosto de 2020

“…The use of medications in the immediate postpartum period is very common, occurring in almost all postpartum women 1 , which may be a reason for not breastfeeding. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding for at least 2 years of age and exclusively until the sixth month 2 , as breastfeeding is related to several nutritional, immunological, cognitive, psycho-affective, economic and social advantages 3 , but breastfeeding time in Brazil and in several other countries does not meet this recommendation 4 . According to Victora et al 5 , if breastfeeding was extended to an almost universal level, it could prevent 823,000 deaths of children under 5 years each year and 20,000 deaths from breast cancer, with the additional benefit of saving 300 billion dollars.…”