Early infant feeding practices in Jinan City, Shandong Province, China

To investigate early infant feeding practices in Jinan, China, a cross-sectional study was carried out in April-May 2000. Data were collected through structured interviews among nearly all the mother-infant pairs (247) in four communities in the city with infants under seven months of age. All but one was born in a hospital and rooming-in (infant sleeping in same room as mother) was widely practiced. Breastfeeding was practiced universally, but first contact with the new-born was delayed one or more hours for 51% of subjects. Colostrum was given to 94% of the infants, yet during the first three days, all but 34% were given water, artificial baby milk, glucose or other prelacteal feeds. Among infants under 4 months of age, 35% were currently exclusively breastfeeding, but at two months only 40% were, and only half that many had received nothing but breast-milk since birth. Exclusive breastfeeding has probably increased in China, but further promotion is still needed in this area.