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Published on: February 5, 2019
Randomised trial of sidecar crib use on breastfeeding duration (NECOT)
Helen L Ball1, Martin P Ward-Platt, Denise Howel
1Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham, UK. h.l.ball@dur.ac.uk
Objective:
To determine whether the use of sidecar cribs on the postnatal ward affects breastfeeding duration.
Design:
A randomised non-blinded parallel trial comparing sidecar cribs with standalone cots.
Setting:
Postnatal wards of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Participants:
1204 pregnant women intending to breastfeed were recruited at 20 weeks' gestation and randomised at 34 weeks to use either a sidecar crib attached to their bed (n=601) or a standalone cot adjacent to their bed (n=603).
Main Outcome Measures:
Duration of any, and exclusive, breastfeeding up to 26 weeks obtained by telephone follow-up.
Results:
334 mothers were withdrawn or lost to follow-up from the trial; infant feeding data were therefore obtained for 870 mothers (433 intervention; 437 controls). Using an intention-to-treat Cox regression analysis, no significant difference was found between the two groups for duration of any breastfeeding (sidecar crib vs cot, hazard ratio (HR) 0.96, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.18), or exclusive breastfeeding (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.16) adjusting for maternal age, education, previous breastfeeding and delivery type. Bed sharing was not significantly more common in mothers randomised to sidecar cribs (67% vs 64%, adjusted difference 2.8%, 95% CI -3.5% to 9.0%). There were no adverse events.
Conclusion:
The use of sidecar cribs for mothers and infants did not improve the duration of any or exclusive breastfeeding, or frequency of bed sharing at home.
