Improving exclusive breast feeding in the first 24 h of life using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle in a tertiary care...

Breast milk is the most ideal form of nutrition for neonates, but the rate of early initiation of breast feeding is as low as 41.6% in India. We aimed to improve the proportion of new-borns on exclusive breast feeds in first 24 h after birth in our hospital from a baseline rate of 33% to more than 90% by 6 weeks using concepts of quality improvement (QI) initiative.

We implemented this QI initiative using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles and the project was conducted from 07 May 2017 to 17 Jun 2017. All singleton term neonates with birth weight above 2.5 kg were included. Neonates requiring any form of resuscitation at birth, respiratory distress requiring any form of respiratory support, and neonates requiring observation in NICU for any other reason were excluded. We ran PDSA cycles (including educating residents and nurses on breast feeding, initiating skin to skin contact and breast feeding in first hour of birth, demonstrating all mothers face to face about attachment and positioning and restriction on issue of formula milk) to improve breast feeding exclusivity.

A total of 199 neonates were enrolled, over a span of 6 weeks. We could achieve sustained exclusive breast feeding in first 24 h of life in more than 90% of the enrolled neonates by adhering to the QI initiative.

This QI project using PDSA methodology has significantly improved the rates of exclusive breast feeding in first 24 h of life in normal neonates roomed in with their mothers.