A Swiss study has provided more evidence for the effectiveness of Baby Friendly implementation as a mechanism to improve breastfeeding rates.
The proportion of babies exclusively breastfed for their first 5 months of life was 42% for those born in Baby Friendly hospitals, compared with 34% for infants born elsewhere. Median breastfeeding duration for infants born in Baby Friendly hospitals, compared with infants born in other hospitals, was longer if the hospital showed good compliance with the Ten Steps (35 weeks vs 29 weeks for any breastfeeding, 20 weeks vs 17 weeks for full breastfeeding, and 12 weeks vs 6 weeks for exclusive breastfeeding).
Data was analysed for 2861 infants aged 0 to 11 months of age born in 145 different health facilities. Breastfeeding data was compared with both the progress towards Baby Friendly status of each hospital and the degree to which accredited hospitals were successfully maintaining the Baby Friendly standards.
In 2003, the median duration of any breastfeeding across Switzerland was 31 weeks, compared with 22 weeks in 1994. The median duration of full breastfeeding was 17 weeks, compared with 15 weeks in 1994. The authors conclude that the general increase in breastfeeding in Switzerland since 1994 can be interpreted in part as a consequence of the growing implementation of the Baby Friendly Initiative.
Longer breastfeeding duration was also associated with 24 hour rooming-in, early initiation of breastfeeding, feeding on demand and avoiding dummy use.
Merten S et al (2005). Do Baby-Friendly Hospitals Influence Breastfeeding Duration on a National Level? Pediatrics 116: e702-e708
