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  • Title: Breast feeding practices in a teaching hospital of Calcutta before and after the adoption of BFHI (Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative).
    Author: Dasgupta A, Bhattacharya S, Das M, Chowdhury KM, Saha S.
    Journal: J Indian Med Assoc; 1997 Jun; 95(6):169-71, 195. PubMed ID: 9420392.
    Abstract:
    A comparative study has been made on two groups of 102 mothers each who delivered children in the postnatal ward of obstetrics and gynaecology department of Calcutta National Medical College before and after the introduction of BFHI (Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative). The study revealed that only 14.3% of the babies who were delivered normally were given their first breast feed in time, the ideal time of half an hour, while not a single baby delivered by caesarean section were given their breast feed within the stipulated time period of 4-6 hours. However, there has been a significant overall reduction in the time gap between the birth and the first breast feed in all types of delivery. BFHI has also made significant reduction of prelacteal feeds and in-between feeds in the newborns especially those delivered normally. The fact that babies of first order and those delivered by caesarean section are lagging behind as far as exclusive breast feeding is concerned has been highlighted in the study. The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative spells out 10 steps to promote exclusive breast feeding as soon after delivery as possible. In 1995, the Chittaranjan Hospital of Calcutta (India) National Medical College adopted this initiative. This study compared infant feeding practices identified in a survey of 102 mothers who delivered 6 months before the policy change and another 102 women who delivered 6 months after the change. The proportion of infants with normal deliveries who were breast-fed within 30 minutes of birth--the recommended interval--increased from 1.5% in 1994 to 14.3% in 1995. Multiparous women began breast feeding significantly earlier than primiparae. In both time periods, no infants delivered by cesarean section were breast-fed within the recommended 4-6 hour interval. The incidence of prelacteal feeds declined from 100% to 33.3% between the two studies. In addition, the incidence of supplementary feeds in breast-fed babies dropped from 46% to 19.6%. Although hospital staff received training in conjunction with adoption of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, only 54% of mothers reported that they were encouraged to exclusively breast feed by hospital personnel, primarily by doctors. These findings confirm the positive impact of the initiative on breast feeding practices, but also suggest a need for more intensive staff training and special attention to first-time mothers and those with surgical deliveries.
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