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Delayed breastfeeding initiation and infant survival: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Thursday, 31st of August 2017 Print

Full text is at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180722

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 26;12(7):e0180722. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180722. eCollection 2017.

Delayed breastfeeding initiation and infant survival: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Smith ER1Hurt L2Chowdhury R3Sinha B3Fawzi W1,4,5Edmond KM6Neovita Study Group.

 

1

Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.

2

Division of Population Medicine, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Wales, United Kingdom.

3

Centre for Health Research and Development, Society for Applied Studies, New Delhi, India.

4

Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.

5

Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.

6

School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

 

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the existing evidence regarding breastfeeding initiation time and infant morbidity and mortality.

STUDY DESIGN:

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Popline, LILACS, AIM, and Index Medicus to identify existing evidence. We included observational studies and randomized control trials that examined the association between breastfeeding initiation time and mortality, morbidity, or nutrition outcomes from birth through 12 months of age in a population of infants who all initiated breastfeeding. Two reviewers independently extracted data from eligible studies using a standardized form. We pooled effect estimates using fixed-effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS:

We pooled five studies, including 136,047 infants, which examined the association between very early breastfeeding initiation and neonatal mortality. Compared to infants who initiated breastfeeding ≤1 hour after birth, infants who initiated breastfeeding 2-23 hours after birth had a 33% greater risk of neonatal mortality (95% CI: 13-56%, I2 = 0%), and infants who initiated breastfeeding ≥24 hours after birth had a 2.19-fold greater risk of neonatal mortality(95% CI: 1.73-2.77, I2 = 33%). Among the subgroup of infants exclusively breastfed in the neonatal period, those who initiated breastfeeding ≥24 hours after birth had an 85% greater risk of neonatal mortality compared to infants who initiated <24 hours after birth (95% CI: 29-167%, I2 = 33%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Policy frameworks and models to estimate newborn and infant survival, as well as health facility policies, should consider the potential independent effect of early breastfeeding initiation.

 

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