Breastfeeding Intention Versus Outcomes at Two to Three Weeks Postpartum

Abstract

Breastfeeding is the optimal nutrition for infants, offering protection from many illnesses for both infant and mother. While breastfeeding initiation rates approach or exceed Healthy People 2020 goals, increasing duration remains a national public health priority. Hospital practices play an important role. An urban, academic hospital in the northeast United States with Baby-Friendly designation initiated a quality improvement (QI) project to learn how infant feeding outcomes at 2–3 weeks postpartum compare to initial breastfeeding intention. A lactation student made telephone calls to a convenience sample of breastfeeding mothers, questioning them about their current infant feeding practices and the breastfeeding support they received. The women participating in this QI project were those deemed most likely to meet their infant feeding goals. All the women gave birth in a Baby-Friendly facility, thus all their nurses had at least 20 hours of breastfeeding education, all medical providers had had at least 3 hours of breastfeeding education, and IBCLCs were available to inpatients 7 days a week. All were encouraged to call the hospital's Breastfeeding Warmline and were provided with a list of outpatient resources. However, just2–3 weeks postpartum, one-third were not exclusively breastfeeding despite their initial intention.