Individualized intervention to improve rates of exclusive breastfeeding: A randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Despite breastfeeding is significant benefits for maternal and infant, the discontinuation of breastfeeding is high. Some of studies showed that the effect of intervention in improving the rate of exclusively breastfeeding is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of individualized intervention compared with routine care in improving rates of exclusive breast feeding. METHODS: Women were divided into two groups. We provided individual antenatal breastfeeding education and postnatal lactation support to intervention group. Control group received routine care. Significance was set at P < .05. RESULTS: We recruited 352 women of whom 176 were randomized to intervention group, 176 to control group. In total, 293 (83.2%) completed 4 months of follow-up. At discharge from hospital, 43.2% of women randomized to intervention group were exclusively breastfeeding compared with 30.0% of women in control group (relative risk 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12–2.82). At 4 months, 70.9% of women in the intervention group were exclusively breastfeeding compared with 46.2% of the women in the control group (2.84; 1.76–4.60). At discharge from hospital, 95.1% of women in the intervention group were breastfeeding on demand compared with 68.1% of women receiving routine care (9.00; 4.09–19.74). At 4 months, 94.6% of women in intervention group were breastfeeding on demand compared with 75.9% of women in the control group (5.57; 2.48–12.49). CONCLUSION: The regular ongoing individualized antenatal education and postnatal support can effective increase the rates of exclusive breastfeeding from delivery to postpartum 4 months and change the breastfeeding behavior.