Feeding during the first 3 days after birth other than breast milk is associated with early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding.

Mohammad Jyoti Raihan,Md Ahshanul Haque,Tahmeed Ahmed,Nuzhat Choudhury,Mohammad Ali,Fahmida Dil Farzana

doi:10.1111/mcn.12971

Abstract

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has significant effect on morbidity and mortality. EBF is established when breastmilk alone is exclusively fed from birth until 6 months of age. However, feeding during the first 3 days after birth is often ignored for various reasons. We aimed to assess the role of feeding during the first 3 days in respect of early cessation of EBF. Data of 1,040 children aged under 6 months was derived from the baseline survey of Suchana, a large‐scale nutrition program, conducted in Sylhet, Bangladesh, and subsequently analysed. Guidelines established by World Health Organization were used to define EBF and feeding during the first 3 days. The strength of the association between feeding during the first 3 days and early cessation of EBF was established using multiple logistic regression after adjusting for other covariates. Among all children, around 62% and 13% were exclusively breastfed and were fed something other than breastmilk within the first 3 days of birth, respectively. Feeding during the first 3 days was independently and significantly associated with early cessation of breastfeeding (adjusted odds ratio: 1.94, 95% confidence interval [1.31, 2.88], p = .001). Less than four antenatal care (ANC) visits, increased child's age and increased household size were also independently associated with early cessation of EBF. Feeding during the first 3 days of birth is a significant predictor of early cessation of EBF. Simple counselling activities to discourage feeding anything within the first few days of birth may increase the prevalence of EBF in rural Bangladesh without investing additional resources.

Highlights

Children deprived of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) are more likely to suffer from respiratory and other bacterial infections (Katsinde &Srinivas, 2016)
On other criticalindependent variables assessed, 12.8% of children did not have breastfeeding initiated within the first hour of birth, and 47.9% had acute morbidity during the last 15 days preceding the survey, whereas 83.7% of mothers had less than four antenatal care (ANC) visits during last pregnancy and 74.0% of children were delivered at home
Our findings showed that the increased child's age less than the optimal number of ANC visits and household size were significantly associated with early cessation of breastfeeding

Summary

Introduction

Children deprived of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) are more likely to suffer from respiratory and other bacterial infections (Katsinde &Srinivas, 2016). Around 11.6% of all under-five mortality equating to around 800,000 child deaths are because of suboptimal breastfeeding practices, which include a deviation from EBF (World Health Organization & UNICEF, 2014). Existing evidence suggests that maternal age, father's occupation, and mode of child delivery are significantly associated with discontinuation of breastfeeding (de Oliveira & Camelo, 2017; Sun, Chen, Yin, Wu, & Gao, 2017; Venancio & Monteiro, 2006). Other aspects such as mothers' selfefficiency, post-natal depression, anxiety, intention to breastfeed, comfort in breastfeeding, desires or attitude of mothers regarding breastfeeding, mother–infant bonding, and family support is important in sustaining breastfeeding (Sun et al, 2017)

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