Hospital care and early breastfeeding outcomes among late preterm, early-term, and term infants.

BACKGROUND

Compared with term infants (39-41 weeks), early-term (37-38 weeks) and late preterm (34-36 weeks) infants have increased breastfeeding difficulties. We evaluated how hospital practices affect breastfeeding by gestational age.

METHODS

This Listening to Mothers III survey cohort included 1,860 mothers who delivered a 34-41-week singleton from July 2011 to June 2012. High hospital support was defined as at least seven practices consistent with the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative's Ten Steps for United States hospitals. Logistic regression tested mediating effects of hospital support on the relationship between gestational age and breastfeeding at 1 week postpartum.

RESULTS

High hospital support was associated with increased exclusive breastfeeding (AOR 2.21 [95% CI 1.58-3.09]). Just 16.4 percent of late preterm infants experienced such support, compared with early-term (37.9%) and term (30.7%) infants (p = 0.004). Although overall breastfeeding rates among late preterm, early-term, and term infants were 87, 88, and 92 percent, respectively, (p = 0.21), late preterm versus term infants were less likely to exclusively breastfeed (39.8 vs. 62.3%, p = 0.002). Inclusion of hospital support in multivariable modeling did not attenuate the effect of late preterm gestation.

DISCUSSION

Differences in practices do not account for decreased exclusive breastfeeding among late preterm infants. Hospital supportive practices increase the likelihood of any breastfeeding.