Empowering early breastfeeding: Determinants of timely initiation among the infants in a rural Indian medical centre.
Antenatal breastfeeding counselling nearly quadrupled odds of early initiation.
Empowering early breastfeeding: Determinants of timely initiation among the infants in a rural Indian medical centre.
Initiating breastfeeding within the first hour after birth is a proven intervention for improving newborn survival and long-term health outcomes.
To determine the prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding and explore maternal and delivery-related factors influencing its practice among late preterm and term infants in a rural tertiary care hospital.
This observational study was conducted over a period of 18 months, from May 2022 to October 2023 and included 380 neonates born at ≥ 34 weeks of gestation.
Early initiation of breastfeeding was reported in 50.8% of newborns, higher than the National Family Health Survey-5 national estimate of 41.8%, but still below the desired levels.
Caesarean births ( P < 0.05, aOR = 0.4), maternal illness ( P < 0.05, aOR = 0.3), and lactation problems ( P < 0.05, aOR = 0.2) were associated with delays.
No significant relationships were observed between maternal age, residence, education, occupation, religion, parity, or birth spacing and the practice of giving prelacteal feeds.
Among the modifiable influences, antenatal advice emerged as the strongest predictor of success.
Interventions focusing on antenatal counselling during pregnancy and providing enhanced lactation support for surgical deliveries, and addressing the lactational problems by appointing a dedicated nurse, may substantially improve early initiation of breastfeeding.
Strengthening these measures can improve neonatal outcomes and align with national and global child health targets.