The influence of gestational age at term on breastfeeding: a cohort study

Abstract

Objective: To identify the effect of the category gestational age at term on breastfeeding in he first hour of life, the duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and practice of breastfeeding twelve months from birth. Method: Single cohort, with a one-year prospective follow-up of 541 children. A hierarchical analysis was performed, with models adjusted per Cox regression, considering critical p < 0.05. Results: During raw analysis there was a statistical difference on breastfeeding in the first hour of life (RR = 1.54; CI 95% = 1.12–2.12; p = 0.008). However, in the final analysis, there was no association between gestational age at term and breastfeeding in the first hour of life, duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and the practice of breastfeeding twelve months from birth. Secondarily, higher age and education, cesarean section, birth at private services, and the need for resuscitation were observed to have a negative influence. Duration of previous pregnancy favored breastfeeding in the first hour of life. Using baby bottle and pacifier was negative for breastfeeding in the first year of life. Conclusion: There was no association between the category gestational age at term and breastfeeding. The association of outcomes pointed out by the scientific literature have been confirmed.

Exclusive breastfeeding duration within a cohort of indigenous Terena living in the urban area of Campo Grande, Central-West Region, Brazil

“…This may be due to the small numbers of infants included in the analyses, which may have compromised the statistical power for the comparisons performed. Our study indicated, however, that the use of baby bottles was significantly associated with lower duration of exclusive breastfeeding/prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding duration until the age of three months, corroborating findings registered for non-indigenous children in Brazil 59,60,61 . The negative health and nutritional consequences of baby bottle use are widely known and described in the literature 62 .…”

Breastfeeding practices based on the gestational age and weight at birth in the first six months of life in a population-based cohort of infants from North India

“…Breastfeeding also improves neuropsychological performance, strengthens mother-child bond, reduces the length of hospital stay with lesser incidence of readmissions ( 8 ). In spite of the evidence on benefits of breastfeeding for preterm and small for gestational age (SGA) babies, the knowledge on their breastfeeding practices is scanty in LMICs when compared with term infants ( 9 , 10 ). The data available on preterm births is robust in high income countries with higher birth registration coverage for preterm births in contrast to LMIC’s, where birth registration coverage is low and data on preterm birth is scarce ( 11 ).…”