Hospital influences on early infant-feeding practices

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Nursing
• Public Health

Background:

• Newborn nursery staff attitudes and teaching practices regarding infant feeding are crucial.
• Maternal infant feeding practices postpartum are influenced by various factors, including hospital experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To survey newborn nursery nursing staff on breast- and bottle-feeding attitudes and teaching.
• To interview mothers about infant feeding practices and hospital influences 14-21 days postpartum.

Main Methods:

• Survey of nursing staff attitudes and teaching practices.
• Structured interviews with mothers regarding infant feeding at 14-21 days postpartum.

Main Results:

• Nursing staff advocated strongly for breastfeeding and did not favor specific bottle-feeding products.
• Mothers perceived staff counseling as pro-breastfeeding, yet many introduced formula.
• Mothers bottle-feeding used hospital-provided formula brands and ready-to-feed preparations.

Conclusions:

• Hospital routines and "modeling" of formula products had a greater impact than verbal breastfeeding counseling.
• Nonverbal hospital influences on infant feeding practices were stronger than verbal recommendations.
• Future research should focus on hospital routines that model breastfeeding to better support mothers' choices.