These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Breastfeeding outcomes among early-term and full-term infants.
    Author: Fan HSL, Wong JYH, Fong DYT, Lok KYW, Tarrant M.
    Journal: Midwifery; 2019 Apr; 71():71-76. PubMed ID: 30690202.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: When compared with full-term birth (39 to <42 weeks), early-term birth (37 to <39 weeks) is associated with adverse neonatal outcomes that may impede breastfeeding. Breastfeeding provides numerous benefits to infants and could potentially offset the effects of early-term birth. However, the effect of early-term birth on any and exclusive breastfeeding duration among healthy normal weight infants is unclear. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the association between early-term birth and breastfeeding duration and exclusivity among healthy term infants. METHODS: Two prospective cohorts of 2704 healthy mother-infant pairs were recruited in Hong Kong in 2006-07 and 2011-12. Participants were followed prospectively for 12 months or until they stopped breastfeeding. RESULTS: Approximately one-third (32.8%) of the infants were born early-term. More than one-half of all participants had stopped breastfeeding by three months postpartum and approximately one-half of the infants were not being exclusively breastfed by two weeks postpartum. There was no significant difference in the odds of any (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.05; 95% 0.85, 1.31) or exclusive (aOR = 0.89; 95% 0.73, 1.08) breastfeeding at one-month postpartum between infants born early-term and at full-term. There was also no significant difference in the duration of any (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.0; 95% 0.91, 1.10) or exclusive (aHR = 1.0; 95% 0.91, 1.09) breastfeeding between early-term and full-term infants. CONCLUSION: In this cohort, early-term birth was not associated with breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. This suggests that, in the absence of neonatal complications, early-term birth itself may not lead to a shorter duration of any or exclusive breastfeeding.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]