Evidence demonstrates the health benefits of early breastfeeding for mothers as well as infants. The World Health Organization states, "Breast milk should be given within the first hour of life." This purpose of this project was to develop a breastfeeding educational toolkit to promote breastfeeding in the hospital environment. The question that guided this project was, "Will the development of a breastfeeding education toolkit, designed to serve as a learning tool to support the breastfeeding mothers, be found to be useful and valid by professional staff and lay end-users?" The goals of the project were to provide an educational toolkit aimed at supporting new mothers, and to validate the toolkit with stakeholders from the Mother/Baby unit. The benefits of breastfeeding and breastfeeding research were established through an evidence-based search of peer-reviewed journals. The developed toolkit was reviewed by10 stakeholders from the Mother/Baby unit: 1 physician, 3- lactation consultants, 5 nursing professionals, and 1 layperson of childbearing age. To assess the quality of the guidelines, the Logic Model and the 4 domains of the AGREE II Instrument were used. The descriptive data analysis from the AGREE II instrument led to the recommendations for the toolkit. All reviewers acknowledged the need for the toolkit as a support for the mothers and their babies. The stakeholders provided their support for the developed toolkit. The breastfeeding education toolkit has the potential to support positive social change by improving the health of the mothers and babies through improved breast-feeding knowledge.

Breastfeeding trends in the United States have varied considerably since the early 1900s. Medical and federal surveys representing comprehensive data on breastfeeding rates of American women show an inconsistency in breastfeeding trends over the course of the past 110 years. Some decades report a growth in breastfeeding rates of infants newborn to 6 months, whereas other decades report a decline. This report examines breastfeeding trends from the early 1900s to present day to suggest which factors have played a role in the decline and rise of breastfeeding in the United States. / text

This population-based retrospective cohort study describes breastfeeding patterns and identifies the determinants of longer exclusive breastfeeding among 4,533 mother-infants pairs in two regions of Nova Scotia, Canada between 2006 and 2009. Multivariate logistic and proportional hazard regression analyses were used to model breastfeeding practices. While 64.1% (95% CI=62.7-65.5) of mothers initiated breastfeeding, only 10.4% (9.5-11.4) of mothers exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months; 21% (19.7-22.3) of mothers continued to breastfeed at six months, but not exclusively. Six risk factors are independently associated with poorer breastfeeding practices: lower maternal education, no partner, higher pre-pregnancy body mass index, smoking during pregnancy, no breast contact between dyads within one hour of birth, and no intention of breastfeeding. Rates of exclusive breastfeeding remain lower in these districts than elsewhere in Canada. Understanding determinants of longer exclusive breastfeeding is critical to assist policy makers and health care providers in better supporting mothers and newborns.

Factors that influence exclusive breastfeeding in Namibia are important, especially in light of the implementation of the Baby and Mother Friendly Initiative. Infant feeding practices, especially breastfeeding, are important public health issues, particularly in the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child. This thesis determined the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and measures the association of demographic and service-related factors on exclusive and non-exclusive breastfeeding practices.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Evidence on the benefits of breastfeeding for child survival, growth and development is published extensively. Breastfeeding is an "unequalled" way of providing ideal food to infants and young children to promote good health, growth, development and to attainment of their full potential. Despite initiatives and programmes to promote uptake of exclusive breastfeeding, this practice remains sub-optimal in Zimbabwe. This study explored factors that influence breastfeeding decisions and practices based on mothers' own breastfeeding experiences. Methodology: This study employed a phenomenological research design. Information collected from mothers using in-depth interviews was triangulated with that from key informants. Interviews were audio-tape recorded and transcribed verbatim in Ndebele and then translated to English. Thematic analysis was used to compare various accounts from study participants to identify similar and related themes. Findings: Mothers could not differentiate exclusive breastfeeding from predominant and partial breastfeeding. Barriers to exclusive breastfeeding were: (i) Poor understanding of exclusive breastfeeding and its benefits; (ii) Use of herbal infusions; (iii) Practice of giving babies water; (iv) Perceived insufficient breastmilk production; (v) Myths and misconceptions; (vi) Breast conditions; (vii) Tradition (viii) the HIV epidemic; and (ix) Employment. Enabling factors were: (i) Adequate food for the lactating mother; (ii) Family support; (iii) Support from husband; and (iv) Knowledge of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Factors that influence exclusive breastfeeding in Namibia are important, especially in light of the implementation of the Baby and Mother Friendly Initiative. Infant feeding practices, especially breastfeeding, are important public health issues, particularly in the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child. This thesis determined the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and measures the association of demographic and service-related factors on exclusive and non-exclusive breastfeeding practices. / South Africa

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a breastfeeding education program on breastfeeding initiation rates, breastfeeding knowledge, and attitude towards breastfeeding among teenage mothers at an urban school for pregnant and parenting teens. Breastfeeding initiation rose from 35.7% in the control group to 85.2% in the treatment group. The mean score on the Breastfeeding Knowledge Subscale was significantly higher for the treatment group but not the control group. There was not a significant increase in mean scores on the Breastfeeding Attitude Subscale. Participants who initiated breastfeeding scored also had a significant increase in scores from pretest to posttest on the Breastfeeding Knowledge Subscale, while participants who did not initiate breastfeeding did not.

A queixa de “pouco leite” ou hipogalactia tem sido apontada como uma das mais freqüentes causas do desmame ou interrupção do aleitamento materno exclusivoe, os baixos volumes de leite têm sido associados à ansiedade materna que poderia provocar alterações na fisiologia da lactação inibindo a produção láctea. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: identificar o traço e estado de ansiedade no 10°dia pós-parto e estado de ansiedade no 30ºdia pós-parto das nutrizes primíparas e multíparas que apresentam indicadores de hipogalactia; caracterizar o traço e estado de ansiedade no 10°dia pós-parto e estado de ansiedade no 30ºdia pós-parto das nutrizes primíparas e multíparas que apresentam galctia normal; comparar o traço e estado de ansiedade das nutiezes hipo e normogalactas, no 10°dia e no 30ºdia pós-parto e verificar as possíveis relações entre o estado der ansiedade das nutrizes no 10° e 30ºdia pós-parto com os indicadores de hipogalactia apresentados por elas ou seus filhos. Participaram do estudo 168 nutrizes e seus filhos que formaram 4 sub-grupos com primíparas e multíparas hipogalactas e primíparas e multíparas normogalactas, com 42 mulheres em cada. Foram incluídas no grupo de hipogalactas as mulheres e RN que apresentaram ou referiram um ou mais indicadores de hipogalactia. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que as nutrizes deste estudo apresentam média dos escores de traço de ansiedade correspondentes à média ansiedade e a média dos escores dos estados de ansiedade nos 10° e 30ºdia pós-parto correspondentes à baixa ansiedade. As primíparas e multíparas hipogalactas e as primíparas com galactia normal apresentaram traço de ansiedade mais elavado do que os estados de ansiedade por ocasião 30ºdia pós-parto. As multíparas com galactia normal apresentaram no 30ºdia pós-parto, escores de estado de ansiedade mais elevados do que aqueles apresentados por ocasião do 10ºdia pós-parto e ambos abaixo dos escores do traço de ansiedade obtidos no 10ºdia pós-parto. Para essas mulheres, a experiência e a normalidade de produção láctea não diminuíram o grau de ansiedade. Em relação aos indicadores de hipogalactia e o estado de ansiedade das nutrizes no10° e 30ºdia pós-parto, encontramos uma relação direta entre a presença dos indicadores e o aumento do grau de ansiedade materna. Embora tenhamos encontrado relações entre alguns dos indicadores de hipogalactia e grau de ansiedade materno, ficou evidente que a remissão dos sinais maternos e neonatais, depende, na maioria das vezes, da correção da técnica da amamentação através da orientação e oferecimento de apoio às nutrizes. / The complaint about “few milk” or insufficient lactation has been pointed as one of the most frequent causes of the weaning or interruption of the exclusive maternal breastfeeding and, the low volumes of breast milk have been associated to the maternal anxiety that could provoke alterations in the physiology of the lactation inhibiting the lacteal production. The objectives of this study were: to identify the trace and the anxiety state in the 10th postpartum day and the anxiety state in 30th postpartum day of the primiparous and multiparous nursing mothers who present insufficient brestfeeding indicators; to characterize the trace and the anxiety state in the 10th postpartum day and the anxiety state in the 30th postpartum day of the primiparous and multiparous nursing mothers who present normal breastfeeding; to comparae the trace and the anxiety state of the nursing mothers with insufficient breastfeeding and nursing mother with normal brestfeeding, in the 10th and 30th day postpartum and to verify the possible relationships among the anxiety state of the nursing mothers in the 10th and 30th day postpartum with the insufficient brestfeeding indicators presented by them or their children. Have participated in the study 168 nursing mothers and their children who formed 4 sub-grops with primiparous and multiparours who present insufficientbrestfeedind and primiparous and multiparous who present normal brestfeeding, with 42 women each. Have been included in the insufficient brestfeeding group the women and newborn that presented or they referred to one or more insufficient lactation indicators. The obtained results have showed that the nursing mothers of this study has presented average scores of trace of anxiety according to the average anxiety and the average of the scores of the anxiety states in the 10th and 30th day postpartum corresponding to the low anxiety. The primiparous and multiparous who present insufficient brestfeeding and the primiparous with normal lactation have presented higher anxiety state for occasion of the 10th and 30th day postpartum. The primiparous with normal lactation have presented in the 30th postpartum higher scores of anxiety state than those have presented by occasion of the 10th postpartum and both below the scares of the anxiety trace obtained 10th postpartum. For those women the experience and the normality of the lacteal production didn´t reduce the anxiety degree. In relation to the insufficient lactation indicators and the anxiety state of the nursing mothers in the 10th and 30th day postpartum, we found a direct relationship between the presence of the indicators and the increase of degree of maternal anxiety. Although we have been finding relationships among some insufficient lactation indicators and the degree of maternal anxiety, it was evident that the remission of the maternal and neonatal signs, depends, most of the time, of the correction of the brestfeeding technique through orientation and support offer to the nursing mothers.