TY - JOUR
T1 - The Effect of Breastfeeding Practices of Undernourished Mothers in Rural Sierra Leone on Infant Growth and Mortality
AU - Koroma, Aminata Shamit
AU - Stephenson, Kevin B.
AU - Iversen, Per O.
AU - Manary, Mark J.
AU - Hendrixson, David Taylor
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Breastfeeding provides optimal infant nutrition; however, <50% of infants are exclusively breastfed (EBF) for 6 months. We aimed to describe breastfeeding practices and their effects on growth and mortality among a high-risk mother-infant cohort in rural Sierra Leone. This was a secondary analysis of data from a randomized nutrition intervention trial among undernourished pregnant women. The study’s primary outcomes were infant weight and length gains at 6 weeks of age. We included 1270 singleton infants in the analysis, with 1092 (85.6%) having 24-week outcome data. At 6 weeks, 88% were EBF, but the rate of EBF decreased to 17% at 24 weeks. The EBF infants at 6 weeks had improved length (difference of 0.9 mm/week; 95% CI 0.4 to 1.3; p < 0.001) and weight (difference of 40 g/week; 95% CI 24 to 53; p < 0.001) gains compared to the non-EBF infants. At 12 weeks, the EBF infants had improved weight (difference of 12 g/week; 95% CI 2 to 22; p = 0.024) gain. The EBF infants had lower mortality than the infants who were not EBF (hazard ratio of 0.39; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.84; p = 0.017). In summary, the infants who were EBF had greater weight and length gain and reduced mortality than those who were not EBF. Efforts to improve breastfeeding should thus be prioritized to improve infant health.
AB - Breastfeeding provides optimal infant nutrition; however, <50% of infants are exclusively breastfed (EBF) for 6 months. We aimed to describe breastfeeding practices and their effects on growth and mortality among a high-risk mother-infant cohort in rural Sierra Leone. This was a secondary analysis of data from a randomized nutrition intervention trial among undernourished pregnant women. The study’s primary outcomes were infant weight and length gains at 6 weeks of age. We included 1270 singleton infants in the analysis, with 1092 (85.6%) having 24-week outcome data. At 6 weeks, 88% were EBF, but the rate of EBF decreased to 17% at 24 weeks. The EBF infants at 6 weeks had improved length (difference of 0.9 mm/week; 95% CI 0.4 to 1.3; p < 0.001) and weight (difference of 40 g/week; 95% CI 24 to 53; p < 0.001) gains compared to the non-EBF infants. At 12 weeks, the EBF infants had improved weight (difference of 12 g/week; 95% CI 2 to 22; p = 0.024) gain. The EBF infants had lower mortality than the infants who were not EBF (hazard ratio of 0.39; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.84; p = 0.017). In summary, the infants who were EBF had greater weight and length gain and reduced mortality than those who were not EBF. Efforts to improve breastfeeding should thus be prioritized to improve infant health.
KW - exclusive breastfeeding
KW - infant growth
KW - infant mortality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185924671&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/children11020233
DO - 10.3390/children11020233
M3 - Article
C2 - 38397345
AN - SCOPUS:85185924671
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 11
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 2
M1 - 233
ER -