Infant hospitalization and breastfeeding post-caesarean section

Abstract

Breastfeeding has been shown to protect infants from illness, but there is minimal published research on the relationship between illness and breastfeeding following caesarean delivery. To examine the association between post-caesarean breastfeeding and infant hospitalization in the first year of life. A retrospective cohort study of 468 term infants examined the relationship between infant hospitalizations and breastfeeding, using hospital admissions records and surveys from a post-caesarean breastfeeding intervention study in an Israeli hospital. A significantly lower proportion of Jewish infants breastfed for at least 4 months (40%; 42) was hospitalized in the first year, compared with non-breastfed infants (60%; 62) (P = 0.003). Among the Muslim infants who were breastfed, a significantly lower proportion were hospitalized (33%; 35) than those who were not hospitalized (67%; 71) and a greater proportion of non-breastfed infants were hospitalized (80%; 8) than those who were not hospitalized (20%; 2) (P = 0.005, Fisher's exact test). In the logistic regression models, the significant variables decreasing the likelihood of hospitalization for Jewish infants were being born to a non-immigrant mother, higher maternal education, and being breastfed, and for Muslim infants the only significant variable was being breastfed. Breastfeeding in post-caesarean women has a protective effect on infant health, as demonstrated by a decrease in illness-related hospitalizations in the first year of life.