Joseph Reny, John Jijo J, David Alice, Sankar Lakshmy, Darvin Dary, Yashik Mohammed
Pediatrics, MGM Muthoot Hospital, Kozhencherry, IND.
Pediatrics, Believer's Church Medical College Hospital, Thiruvalla, IND.
Cureus. 2022 Mar 15;14(3):e23185. doi: 10.7759/cureus.23185. eCollection 2022 Mar.
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the first fundamental right of the child. Globally less than half of the infants are optimally breastfed. Suboptimal breastfeeding can lead to increased respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. This study was undertaken to assess the potential determinants and effects of EBF among infants at a tertiary care hospital in south India since interventions to improve breastfeeding in communities have to be tailored to the needs of the population.
This cross-sectional study was done among infants at the pediatric unit of a tertiary care hospital in central Kerala, from October 2019 to April 2020, using a structured questionnaire.
Two hundred fifty-seven infants were included in the final analysis. 70.4% of babies were exclusively breastfed for the first six months, although 80.9% were breastfed within the first hour after birth. Among determinants of EBF, unemployed mothers and mothers without a post-graduate degree were more likely to continue EBF for six months (OR 2.8 95% CI [1.6-4.9] and OR 2.7 95% CI [1.5-4.9], respectively). Antenatal counseling appeared to have some beneficial effects but the result was not statistically significant. The mean number of respiratory infections, infections requiring hospitalization, and mean antibiotic use was lower in the exclusively breastfed group, though this result was not statistically significant. However, a significantly lower number of breastfed babies had constipation (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.9) when compared to formula-fed babies.
A higher percentage of infants presenting to our hospital has been exclusively breastfed as compared to the state average. Potential determinants of EBF include maternal education and employment and the potential effect of EBF includes protection against constipation. Further emphasis on counseling mothers antenatally, providing postnatal lactation support and counseling, providing mothers with adequate maternity leave will play a major role in promoting EBF in our community.
纯母乳喂养是儿童的首要基本权利。全球范围内，只有不到一半的婴儿得到了最佳母乳喂养。母乳喂养不足会导致呼吸道和胃肠道感染增加。由于改善社区母乳喂养的干预措施必须根据人群需求进行调整，因此本研究旨在评估印度南部一家三级护理医院中婴儿纯母乳喂养的潜在决定因素及其影响。
2019年10月至2020年4月，在喀拉拉邦中部一家三级护理医院的儿科病房，对婴儿进行了一项横断面研究，采用结构化问卷。
最终纳入分析的婴儿有257名。70.4%的婴儿在出生后的前六个月进行纯母乳喂养，不过80.9%的婴儿在出生后一小时内就开始母乳喂养。在纯母乳喂养的决定因素中，失业母亲和没有研究生学历的母亲更有可能持续纯母乳喂养六个月（优势比分别为2.8，95%置信区间[1.6 - 4.9]和2.7，95%置信区间[1.5 - 4.9]）。产前咨询似乎有一些有益影响，但结果无统计学意义。纯母乳喂养组的呼吸道感染、需要住院治疗的感染的平均次数以及抗生素的平均使用量较低，不过这一结果无统计学意义。然而，与人工喂养的婴儿相比，纯母乳喂养的婴儿便秘的数量明显更少（优势比为0.4，95%置信区间为0.2 - 0.9）。
与该邦平均水平相比，到我院就诊的婴儿中纯母乳喂养的比例更高。纯母乳喂养的潜在决定因素包括母亲的教育程度和就业情况，其潜在影响包括预防便秘。进一步加强产前对母亲的咨询、提供产后哺乳支持和咨询、给予母亲足够的产假，将在促进我们社区的纯母乳喂养方面发挥重要作用。
