Does Breastfeeding, milk formula or mixed feeding during maternity stay influence neonatal diet after hospital discharge?

Abstract

International guidelines recommend exclusive breast milk feeding during the first six months of life and its continued use complemented with other food types until the end of the second year of life. Some studies report that the use of milk formula in maternity wards may influence the nutritional choices of parents regarding their children's future diet. Our aim was to determine if the type of milk used during a newborn maternity ward stay, at our Portuguese Hospital, influences the type of milk used in neonates after hospital discharge. A retrospective analysis was done of the clinical records of babies born at our hospital during 2017. A total of 2505 babies were born and a sample of 491 (19.6%) was included in this study; 50.9% were male and 3.9% were premature. Of these, during maternity ward stay 53.4% were exclusively breastfed, 45.2% had mixed breast and milk formula feeding and 1.4% were exclusively formula-fed. Data recorded at Well Baby Clinic, at around the second, third week of life, regarding baby milk feeding type, as referred by parents, respectively as, 59.7%, 32.6% and 7.7% (p