AIM: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a support intervention delivered by health professionals to increase the rate and duration of breastfeeding. METHODS: A randomized controlled intervention study was conducted in the period 2000-2001 among 605 mothers who had given birth in a public maternity ward located in the city of Rome, Italy. The intervention consisted of a home visit by a midwife from the maternity ward of the hospital. The outcome of the study was the infant's feeding habits, assessed by a 24-h recall. The effect of the intervention on the duration of breastfeeding was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and by the Cox multivariate regression model. RESULTS: According to intention-to-treat analysis, there was no significant difference between the intervention and the control group, after controlling for confounding factors (hazard ratio (HR) 1.04; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.85-1.26). The duration of breastfeeding was shorter (HR 1.61; 95% CI: 1.13-2.31) for women in the intervention group who refused the obstetric visit. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that an early home support programme delivered by health professionals was not effective in increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration.
RCT Entities:
AIM: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a support intervention delivered by health professionals to increase the rate and duration of breastfeeding. METHODS: A randomized controlled intervention study was conducted in the period 2000-2001 among 605 mothers who had given birth in a public maternity ward located in the city of Rome, Italy. The intervention consisted of a home visit by a midwife from the maternity ward of the hospital. The outcome of the study was the infant's feeding habits, assessed by a 24-h recall. The effect of the intervention on the duration of breastfeeding was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and by the Cox multivariate regression model. RESULTS: According to intention-to-treat analysis, there was no significant difference between the intervention and the control group, after controlling for confounding factors (hazard ratio (HR) 1.04; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.85-1.26). The duration of breastfeeding was shorter (HR 1.61; 95% CI: 1.13-2.31) for women in the intervention group who refused the obstetric visit. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that an early home support programme delivered by health professionals was not effective in increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration.
Authors: Olukunmi O Balogun; Elizabeth J O'Sullivan; Alison McFadden; Erika Ota; Anna Gavine; Christine D Garner; Mary J Renfrew; Stephen MacGillivray Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2016-11-09
Authors: Alison McFadden; Anna Gavine; Mary J Renfrew; Angela Wade; Phyll Buchanan; Jane L Taylor; Emma Veitch; Anne Marie Rennie; Susan A Crowther; Sara Neiman; Stephen MacGillivray Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2017-02-28