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Breastfeeding-supportive hospital practices and breastfeeding maintenance: results from the Louisiana pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system

Journal of Perinatology volumeĀ 42,Ā pages 1465ā€“1472 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Identify practices associated with breastfeeding maintenance, examine breastfeeding-related hospital practices by hospital designation level (Baby Friendly vs. Gift vs. none), and assess racial disparities in hospital practices and breastfeeding maintenance.

Study design

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System is a population-based survey of mothers who have recently given birth. Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) participants who gave birth from 2016ā€“2019 and initiated breastfeeding were included (nā€‰=ā€‰2200). Associations between twelve breastfeeding-related hospital and breastfeeding at 2ā€“6 months postpartum were assessed. Baby Friendly hospital designation is based on a set of criteria related to hospital practices that promote breastfeeding. The Gift is a Louisiana program that offers a lower level designation and quality improvement support designed to help hospitals transition to and achieve Baby Friendly designation.

Result

Breastfeeding in the hospital, infant only receiving breast milk, and breastfeeding within one hour after birth were positively associated and receiving a gift pack with formula was negatively associated with breastfeeding maintenance in both NHW and NHB women. Associations were stronger in NHW compared to NHB mothers.

Conclusion

We identified several practices significantly associated with breastfeeding maintenance. However, racial disparities indicate a need for population-specific supportive practices.

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Data availability

Data are publicly available through data request to the Louisiana Bureau of Family Health. If interested, please fill out this form: https://www.partnersforfamilyhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/BFHDataRequestForm_FillablePDF.pdf and send to mchdata@la.gov.

Notes

  1. In this manuscript, we use the term mother to refer to the biological mother who gave birth to the infant.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Jennifer Le,Ā Betsy Dancisak,Ā Marci Brewer,Ā Rosaria Trichilo-LucasĀ &Ā Andrei Stefanescu

  2. Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Epidemiology, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Andrei Stefanescu

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  1. Jennifer Le
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  4. Rosaria Trichilo-Lucas
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  5. Andrei Stefanescu
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Contributions

JL: conceptualization, methodology, validation, writingā€”original draft, writingā€”review and editing; BD: conceptualization, investigation, resources, writingā€”original draft, writingā€”review and editing; MB: conceptualization, investigation, resources, writingā€”original draft, writingā€”review and editing; RT-L: conceptualization, resources, investigation, writingā€”original draft, writingā€”review and editing, project administration; AS: conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, data curation, writingā€”original draft, writingā€”review and editing, visualization, supervision, project administration.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrei Stefanescu.

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Le, J., Dancisak, B., Brewer, M. et al. Breastfeeding-supportive hospital practices and breastfeeding maintenance: results from the Louisiana pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system. J Perinatol 42, 1465ā€“1472 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01523-1

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