Maternity care practices help new mothers achieve breastfeeding goals

Mothers who delivered in hospitals that supported breastfeeding with specific maternity care practices were more likely to meet their breastfeeding goals, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

Researchers used data on 1,080 women from 80 different study sites to examine how maternity care practices are linked with breastfeeding goals. The women, all of whom were pregnant or had recently given birth, were recruited from July to November 2013. The researchers followed their children until age 5 years.

“The outcome, selected a priori, was whether women met their intention to breastfeed their infant without using any formula or other milk when their infant was 1 month old,” the researchers wrote.

“In the 1-month interview, women were asked whether they were currently feeding their baby only breast milk, only formula, both breast milk and formula, or neither breast milk nor formula,” they explained. “They were classified as meeting their intention if they reported that their infant was receiving only breast milk. Those who reported that their infants were receiving only formula or both breast milk and formula were classified as not meeting their intention.”

The researchers found that the likelihood of meeting prenatal breastfeeding intentions increased in association with the more practices they experienced. Two practices — breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth and giving only breast milk and no pacifiers — “were significantly associated with meeting breastfeeding intentions even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and other maternity care practices,” the authors wrote.

After adjustment, associations with meeting breastfeeding goals remained for mothers who initiated breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth and gave only breastmilk rather than formula (risk ratio [RR] = 1.3; 95% CI,1-1.6 and RR = 4.4; 95% CI, 3.4-5.7).

Ultimately, the researchers concluded that experiencing evidence-based maternity care practices supportive of breastfeeding was positively associated with meeting intention to be only breastfeeding their infant at 1 month old.

“The more baby-friendly steps women experienced, the more likely they were to achieve their intention,” they wrote. “Not providing in-hospital supplementation was a key factor associated with meeting one’s intentions. Improving implementation of and access to evidence-based maternity care practices could help to improve women's ability to meet their breastfeeding intentions, improving breastfeeding outcomes among this low-income population.”