Breastfeeding practices and policies in WHO European Region Member States.

Ayse Tulay Bagci Bosi,Tanja Sobko,João Breda,Trudy Ma Wijnhoven,Kamilla Gehrt Eriksen

doi:10.1017/s1368980015001767

Abstract

To provide an update on current practices and policy development status concerning breastfeeding in the WHO European Region. National surveys and studies conducted by national health institutions were prioritized. Sub-national data were included where no national data or studies existed. Information on national breastfeeding policies was collected mainly from the WHO Seventh Meeting of Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative Coordinators and European Union projects. Owing to the different data sources and methods, any comparisons between countries must be made with caution. WHO European Member States. Data from fifty-three WHO European Member States were investigated; however, a large proportion had not reported any data. Rates of early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding to 1 year all varied considerably within the WHO European Region. Exclusive breastfeeding rates declined considerably after 4 months, and were low in infants under 6 months and at 6 months of age. The majority of the countries with existing data reported having a national infant and young child feeding policy and the establishment of a national committee on breastfeeding or infant and young child feeding. The majority of the countries with existing data reported having baby-friendly hospitals, although the proportion of baby-friendly hospitals to the total number of national hospitals with maternity units was low in most countries. Breastfeeding practices within the WHO European Region, especially exclusive breastfeeding rates, are far from complying with the WHO recommendations. There are marked differences between countries in breastfeeding practices, infant and young child feeding policy adoption and proportion of baby-friendly hospitals.

Highlights

15 % were Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), 21 % were Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and 64 % were surveys conducted by national ministries of health
Twenty-one out of fifty-three countries reported data on early initiation of Exclusive breastfeeding under 4 months The rates of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) of infants under 4 months varied widely across the WHO European Region Member States (Table 2)
The current paper presents an important update of the current status of EBF practices, policy adoption and baby-friendly hospital (BFH) in countries of the WHO European Region

Summary

Methods

Breastfeeding data were collected according to the three WHO recommended practices of breastfeeding. EBF under 4 months was included, as a majority of WHO European Region Member States reported data on EBF at 0–3·9 months of age. Data on EBF at 6 months were included in the present paper, as many countries reported such data instead of EBF under 6 months. Where national representative surveys were lacking, intervention studies, birth cohort studies and data from the WHO global databank on IYCF and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) family database were included. For this reason, data should be interpreted with caution and the comparability is limited. The lowest prevalence was seen in Bulgaria (5 %) and Serbia (8 %), and the highest prevalence in Kyrgyzstan, where 84 % of infants had initiated early breastfeeding 1 h after birth

Results

Discussion

Limitations

Conclusion