TY - JOUR
T1 - Baby Friendly Hospital Designation and Breastfeeding Outcomes Among Maryland WIC Participants
AU - Gross, Susan M.
AU - Orta-Aleman, Dania
AU - Resnik, Amy Kovar
AU - Ducharme-Smith, Kirstie
AU - Augustyn, Marycatherine
AU - Silbert-Flagg, Jo Anne
AU - Rosenblum, Nadine
AU - Caulfield, Laura E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number R40MC30762, Maternal and Child Health Field-initiated Innovative Research Studies Program. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - Objectives: The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is an effective intervention to support maternal practices around breastfeeding. However, little is known about its impact on participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) designation in Maryland improved breastfeeding practices among Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) participants. Methods: Breastfeeding practices of WIC participants (22,543 mother-infant dyads) were analyzed utilizing WIC management information system de-identified data from four Maryland WIC agencies during 2010–12 and 2017–19. Participants lived in areas served by a hospital that became BFH in 2016 or remained non-BFH. Pre–post implementation breastfeeding practices (breastfeeding initiation, at 3 months and 6 months) of women associated with a BFH were compared to women associated with a non-BFH using propensity score weighting and a difference-in-difference modeling. Results: From pre to post intervention no differences in breastfeeding initiation or any breastfeeding at 6 months were attributable to BFH status. There was some evidence that BFH designation in 2016 was associated with an absolute percent change of 2.4% (P = 0.09) for any breastfeeding at 3 months. Discussion: Few differences in breastfeeding outcomes among WIC participants were attributable to delivery in a BFH. Results from this study inform policy about maternity practices impacting WIC breastfeeding outcomes. More study needed to determine the impact of BFH delivery on differences in breastfeeding outcomes between sub-groups of women.
AB - Objectives: The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is an effective intervention to support maternal practices around breastfeeding. However, little is known about its impact on participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) designation in Maryland improved breastfeeding practices among Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) participants. Methods: Breastfeeding practices of WIC participants (22,543 mother-infant dyads) were analyzed utilizing WIC management information system de-identified data from four Maryland WIC agencies during 2010–12 and 2017–19. Participants lived in areas served by a hospital that became BFH in 2016 or remained non-BFH. Pre–post implementation breastfeeding practices (breastfeeding initiation, at 3 months and 6 months) of women associated with a BFH were compared to women associated with a non-BFH using propensity score weighting and a difference-in-difference modeling. Results: From pre to post intervention no differences in breastfeeding initiation or any breastfeeding at 6 months were attributable to BFH status. There was some evidence that BFH designation in 2016 was associated with an absolute percent change of 2.4% (P = 0.09) for any breastfeeding at 3 months. Discussion: Few differences in breastfeeding outcomes among WIC participants were attributable to delivery in a BFH. Results from this study inform policy about maternity practices impacting WIC breastfeeding outcomes. More study needed to determine the impact of BFH delivery on differences in breastfeeding outcomes between sub-groups of women.
KW - Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
KW - Breastfeeding
KW - Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC)
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U2 - 10.1007/s10995-022-03410-9
DO - 10.1007/s10995-022-03410-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 35334026
AN - SCOPUS:85127301053
SN - 1092-7875
VL - 26
SP - 1153
EP - 1159
JO - Maternal and child health journal
JF - Maternal and child health journal
IS - 5
ER -