Factors associated with initiation and exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge: late preterm compared to 37 week gestation mother and infant cohort
Background: To investigate and examine the factors associated with initiation of, and exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge of, late preterm (34 0/7 - 36 6/7 weeks) compared to 37 week gestation (37 0/7 - 37 6/7 week) mother and baby pairs.
Methods: A retrospective population-based cohort study using a Perinatal National Minimum Data Set and clinical medical records review, at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania, Australia in 2006.
Results: Late preterm and 37 week gestation infants had low rates of initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, 31 (21.1%) and 61 (41.5%) respectively. After multiple regression analysis, late preterm infants were less likely to initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth (OR 0.3 95% CI 0.1, 0.7 p = 0.009) and were less likely to be discharged exclusively breastfeeding from hospital (OR 0.4 95% CI 0.1, 1.0 p = 0.04) compared to 37 week gestation infants.
Conclusion: A late preterm birth is predictive of breastfeeding failure, with late preterm infants at greater risk of not initiating breastfeeding and/or exclusively breastfeeding at hospital discharge, compared with those infants born at 37 weeks gestation. Stratifying breastfeeding outcomes by gestational age groups may help to identify those sub-populations at greatest risk of premature cessation of breastfeeding.
History
Publication title
International Breastfeeding JournalVolume
7Article number
16Number
16Pagination
1-6ISSN
1746-4358Department/School
Menzies Institute for Medical ResearchPublisher
BioMed Central Ltd.Place of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/Repository Status
- Open