BACKGROUND The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. Recent statistics indicate that initiation and maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding are low in the United States. Unfortunately, little information is available on how clinicians and health care organizations can best promote continuation of exclusive breastfeeding. OBJECTIVE To ...

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding for first 6 months of life is recommended under Infant and Young Child Feeding practices in India. The objective of present study was to estimate the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding during first 6 months of life of babies and to identify factors that interfere with the practice in the study area. Methods: A prospective cohort of 462 women who delivered ...

BACKGROUND Despite evidence supporting the importance of breastfeeding to child health, breastfeeding practices remain suboptimal in Vietnam. There is currently little evidence on the importance of breastfeeding in the prevention of morbidity during infancy in Vietnam. In order to provide country specific data for policy makers to support breastfeeding friendly policies and programs, analysis w...

BACKGROUND In Bangladesh, many programs and projects have been promoting breastfeeding since the late 1980 s. Breastfeeding practices, however, have not improved accordingly. METHODS For identifying program-relevant issues to improve breastfeeding in infancy, quantitative data were collected through visits to households (n = 356) in rural Chittagong and urban slums in Dhaka, and qualitative d...

Background Exclusive breastfeeding is important for child health and growth, but its practice is low in many developing countries. This study aimed at determining the breastfeeding practices and examining the sociodemographic characteristics that influence exclusive breastfeeding among mothers attending child welfare clinic at Manhean, in the Tema East Sub-Meteropolitan area of Greater Accra re...

PURPOSE To determine the prevalence of alcohol consumption among breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women at 3 months postpartum. METHODS We analyzed the most recent data available, which were from the 1993-1994 Food and Drug Administration Infant Feeding Practices Study I, a longitudinal panel study of infant-mother pairs. Self-reported data on alcohol consumption were analyzed for 772 brea...

BACKGROUND The impacts of optimal infant feeding practices on diarrhoea have been documented in some developing countries, but not in countries with high diarrhoea mortality as reported by the World Health Organisation/United Nations Children's Fund. We aimed to investigate the association between infant feeding practices and diarrhoea in sub-Saharan African countries with high diarrhoea mortal...

BACKGROUND The practice of exclusive breastfeeding is still low despite the associated benefits. Improving the uptake and appropriating the benefits will require an understanding of breastfeeding as an embodied experience within a social context. This study investigates breastfeeding practices and experiences of nursing mothers and the roles of grandmothers, as well as the work-related constrai...

OBJECTIVE To provide an update on current practices and policy development status concerning breastfeeding in the WHO European Region. DESIGN National surveys and studies conducted by national health institutions were prioritized. Sub-national data were included where no national data or studies existed. Information on national breastfeeding policies was collected mainly from the WHO Seventh ...

OBJECTIVES To describe breastfeeding practices from 0 to 12 months of age in 4 small towns that are representative of urban northeast Brazil and to identify factors associated with introduction of other milk in the first month of life. METHODS From January to August 1998, 364 mothers were interviewed at delivery to ascertain antenatal care; delivery room practices; and their intentions regard...