TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of the baby friendly community initiative in Italy
T2 - A non-randomised controlled study
AU - Cattaneo, Adriano
AU - Bettinelli, Maria Enrica
AU - Chapin, Elise
AU - Macaluso, Anna
AU - Córdova Do Espírito Santo, Lílian
AU - Murante, Anna Maria
AU - Montico, Marcella
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) on exclusive breast feeding at 6 months. Design: Controlled, non-randomised trial. Setting: 18 Local Health Authorities in 9 regions of Italy. Participants: 5094 mother/infant dyads in 3 cohorts were followed up to 12 months after birth in 3 rounds of data collection: at baseline, after implementation of the intervention in the early intervention group and after implementation in the late intervention group. 689 (14%) dyads did not complete the study. Intervention: Implementation of the 7 steps of the BFCI. Main outcome measures: The rate of exclusive breast feeding at 6 months was the primary outcome; breast feeding at discharge, 3 and 12 months was also measured. Results: The crude rates of exclusive breast feeding at discharge, 3 and 6 months, and of any breast feeding at 6 and 12 months increased at each round of data collection after baseline in the early and late intervention groups. At the end of the project, 10% of infants were exclusively breast fed at 6 months and 38% were continuing to breast feed at 12 months. However, the comparison by adjusted rates and logistic regression failed to show statistically significant differences between groups and rounds of data collection in the intention-to-treat analysis, as well as when compliance with the intervention and training coverage was taken into account. Conclusions: The study failed to demonstrate an effect of the BFCI on the rates of breast feeding. This may be due, among other factors, to the time needed to observe an effect on breast feeding following this complex intervention.
AB - Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) on exclusive breast feeding at 6 months. Design: Controlled, non-randomised trial. Setting: 18 Local Health Authorities in 9 regions of Italy. Participants: 5094 mother/infant dyads in 3 cohorts were followed up to 12 months after birth in 3 rounds of data collection: at baseline, after implementation of the intervention in the early intervention group and after implementation in the late intervention group. 689 (14%) dyads did not complete the study. Intervention: Implementation of the 7 steps of the BFCI. Main outcome measures: The rate of exclusive breast feeding at 6 months was the primary outcome; breast feeding at discharge, 3 and 12 months was also measured. Results: The crude rates of exclusive breast feeding at discharge, 3 and 6 months, and of any breast feeding at 6 and 12 months increased at each round of data collection after baseline in the early and late intervention groups. At the end of the project, 10% of infants were exclusively breast fed at 6 months and 38% were continuing to breast feed at 12 months. However, the comparison by adjusted rates and logistic regression failed to show statistically significant differences between groups and rounds of data collection in the intention-to-treat analysis, as well as when compliance with the intervention and training coverage was taken into account. Conclusions: The study failed to demonstrate an effect of the BFCI on the rates of breast feeding. This may be due, among other factors, to the time needed to observe an effect on breast feeding following this complex intervention.
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U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010232
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010232
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84971268675
VL - 6
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
SN - 2044-6055
IS - 5
M1 - e010232
ER -