1. Hospital Practices and Women's Likelihood of Fulfilling Their Intention to Exclusively Breastfeed
- Author
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Miriam H. Labbok, Carol Sakala, Mary Ann O'Hara, and Eugene Declercq
- Subjects
Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Research and Practice ,Breastfeeding ,Mothers ,Professional practice ,Young Adult ,Nursing ,Pregnancy ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Confidence Intervals ,Odds Ratio ,medicine ,Humans ,Active listening ,Infant feeding ,Retrospective Studies ,business.industry ,Public health ,Infant, Newborn ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Infant ,Hospitals ,Organizational Policy ,Breast Feeding ,Logistic Models ,Multivariate Analysis ,Pacifier ,Female ,Infant Food ,business ,Breast feeding - Abstract
Objectives. We sought to assess whether breastfeeding-related hospital practices reported by mothers were associated with achievement of their intentions to exclusively breastfeed. Methods. We used data from Listening to Mothers II, a nationally representative survey of 1573 mothers who had given birth in a hospital to a singleton in 2005. Mothers were asked retrospectively about their breastfeeding intention, infant feeding at 1 week, and 7 hospital practices. Results. Primiparas reported a substantial difference between their intention to exclusively breastfeed (70%) and this practice at 1 week (50%). They also reported hospital practices that conflicted with the Baby-Friendly Ten Steps, including supplementation (49%) and pacifier use (45%). Primiparas who delivered in hospitals that practiced 6 or 7 of the steps were 6 times more likely to achieve their intention to exclusively breastfeed than were those in hospitals that practiced none or 1 of the steps. Mothers who reported supplemental feedings to their infant were less likely to achieve their intention to exclusively breastfeed: primiparas (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1, 9.3); multiparas (AOR = 8.8; 95% CI = 4.4, 17.6). Conclusions. Hospitals should implement policies that support breastfeeding with particular attention to eliminating supplementation of healthy newborns.
- Published
- 2009
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