Effects of baby-friendly practices on breastfeeding duration in China: a case-control study

International Breastfeeding Journal

Nianrong Wang¹  Ya Ye¹  Wenhao Li²  Haijun Wang²  Scott Rozelle³  Zijuan Huang⁴  Ting Zeng⁴  Sumei Wang⁵  Shuangqin Yan⁵  Jinliuxing Yang⁶  Xi Jin⁶  Yue Zhang⁶  Shiyi Yao⁶  Tao Xu⁶  Yin Li⁷  Fenghua Zhang⁷ 

[1] Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, 400000, Chongqing, China;Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, 100191, Beijing, China;Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, California, USA;Liuzhou Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, 545001, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China;Ma’anshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, 243011, Ma’anshan, Anhui, China;National Center for Women and Children’s Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 100081, Beijing, China;Qingdao Maternal and Children Healthcare Center, 26600, Qingdao, Shandong, China;

关键词: Exclusive breastfeeding;    Baby-friendly hospital initiation;    Breastfeeding duration;    Infants;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13006-020-00334-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is generally considered an effective way to promote breastfeeding. Although China has the largest number of baby-friendly hospitals in the world, research on baby-friendly practices in China is limited, and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) at 6 months, 20.7%, compared to the 2025 global goal of 50% is low. It is, therefore, important to determine the factors that remain significant barriers to EBF in China. To explore how the key baby-friendly practices affect EBF duration in China, we used a case-control study to compare the effects of baby-friendly-related practices on both EBF and non-breastfeeding (NBF) mothers at 3 months and to investigate the effects of both single and comprehensive baby-friendly practices in promoting EBF duration at 3 months, which is one step toward EBF at 6 months.MethodsParticipants were recruited from four maternal and child health hospitals in western (Chongqing), eastern (Qingdao), southern (Liuzhou), and central China (Maanshan). A total of 421 mothers (245 in the EBF group, 176 in the NBF group) of infants aged 3 months were surveyed through a self-reported questionnaire from April 2018 to March 2019. The experience of baby-friendly practices and breastfeeding during hospitalization were assessed with yes/no questions. Socio-demographic factors that influenced breastfeeding at 3 months were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsOf mothers in the EBF group, 65.57% reported engaging in at least seven baby-friendly practices compared to 47.72% of mothers in the NBF group. Significantly more mothers in the EBF group engaged in baby-friendly practices than in the NBF group. These practices included “breastfeeding within one hour after birth” (74.29% vs. 59.09%), “breastfeeding on demand” (86.48% vs. 75.00%), and “never use a pacifier” (46.53% vs. 31.25%). After adjusting for confounding variables, we found that the mothers who engaged in fewer than seven baby-friendly practices were about 1.7 times less likely to breastfeed than were those who engaged in seven or more baby-friendly practices (odds ratio [OR] 1.720, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.106, 2.667). Further, the mothers who did not breastfeed on demand were as likely to not breastfeed up to 3 months (OR 2.263, 95% CI 1.265, 4.049), as were mothers who did not breastfeed during hospitalization (OR 4.379, 95% CI 1.815, 10.563).ConclusionsThese data from hospitals in China suggest that higher compliance with baby-friendly practices may have a positive impact on EBF at 3 months, particularly in terms of promoting the implementation of breastfeeding on demand and breastfeeding during hospitalization in China.

【 授权许可】

CC BY