Does monitoring newborn weight discourage breastfeeding?
Background:A policy of regular neonatal weight monitoring was introduced to a geographically defined population in 2000. This was combined with targeted breast-feeding support for infants reaching specified intervention thresholds. Objective:To look for evidence of compromise in breast-feeding rates as a result of this policy change. Methods:Breast-feeding rates at 10-days and 6- weeks were compared for this intervention population and two local non-intervention groups for the years 1999 and 2001. The data was analysed using Poisson regression analysis and the Z-test. Results:We observed a 3.1% (95% C.I. 0.8%, 5.5%) rise in the deprivation-corrected breast-feeding rate at 6 weeks for the intervention population compared to an increase of 0.8% (95% C.I. – 0.8%, 2.3%) for the combined control groups. Multivariate analysis showed that breast-feeding rates were adversely influenced by deprivation but were not significantly influenced by the intervention. Conclusion:We find no evidence to s
