An educational intervention on promotion of breast feeding complemented by continuing support
Objective: The study, aiming to document the effect of continued support for mothers on frequency of exclusive breast feeding, was carried out by inclusion of breast feeding counselling in the context of well-baby care.
Methods and Results: One hundred and forty-six mothers who had been exposed to two educational sessions on breast feeding after delivery were given appointments to bring their baby to the paediatric hospital for well-baby care. The mother-infant pairs were followed by the same two residents for 4 months. Mean number of visits was six. A conscious effort was made during all visits to influence the mothers and their close relatives towards exclusive breast feeding. It was observed that in a large proportion of the infants, breast milk was being supplemented with water at the time of the first visit and no further effort was made to change this traditional behaviour. Comparison of the results with a group of mothers who had been exposed to similar educational sessions after delivery but without further support showed a striking increase in frequency of exclusive breast feeding (breast milk and water) in the supported group. Researchers enrolled at least 96 primiparous women infant pairs in Instanbul, Turkey into a study intended to examine the effect of continued support of mothers on an educational model to promote exclusive breast feeding. Both the study group and the control group were exposed to the same educational sessions on breast feeding. The mothers received an appointment card during the 1st home visit for a follow up visit at the University Children's Hospital at 2 weeks. The same physician saw the same group of infants monthly for 4 months. The physicians discussed breast feeding and infant feeding with mother for 5-15 minutes. Further they encouraged mothers to telephone or visit whenever a problem occurred. They also suggested bringing a close family member with them, especially the mother in law. Indeed close relatives accompanied mothers on 90% of the visits. The deeply rooted tradition of supplementing breast milk with water manifested itself in 47.9% of the cases at 1 week. Since this was so deeply rooted, the researchers considered breast milk and water as exclusive breast feeding. 85.4% of the study group practiced exclusive breast feeding at 1 month compared to 60.9% for the control group. Even though the percentage of those in the study group who exclusively breast fed was lower at 4 months (60.9%), it was well above the comparable percentage for the control group (5%). Moreover by 4 months only 4.2% of case infants were completely weaned compared to 34.8% of the control infants. These results indicate that continuing support for mothers who breast feed plays an key role in promotion of breast feeding. Further it is preferable if the continuing support comes from the same health worker.