Breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated factors: a risk to sustainable development.
Bárbara Portela Diniz, Danton Matheus de Souza, Sandra Josefina Ferraz Ellero Grisi and 1 others
PMID 41417378WHAT IT FOUND
Breastfeeding lasted 5.2 months total and 3.2 months exclusively among São Paulo mother-baby pairs during the pandemic.
Early pacifier use, first-month feeding difficulty, and early formula introduction were linked to shorter breastfeeding.
Key findings
01Breastfeeding lasted 5.2 months total and 3.2 months exclusively among the followed mother-baby pairs.
02Pacifier use in the first month, difficulty breastfeeding in the first month, early weaning, and early formula introduction were associated with shorter total breastfeeding duration.
0383.5% of mothers received breastfeeding guidance in rooming-in, and difficulty breastfeeding was reported for 48% of newborns in rooming-in and 17.3% in the first month.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Convenience sample from a São Paulo teaching hospital during a pandemic period with restricted care and limited vaccination availability, so results may not apply to other settings. 51 of 178 interviewed dyads were lost to remote follow-up, and the authors said losses may have been among mothers with worse outcomes. Observational design cannot show that pacifier use, formula, difficulty breastfeeding, or depression caused shorter breastfeeding. The study had no pre-pandemic comparison group, so it cannot determine whether the pandemic itself caused the observed rates. Only a small number of babies received formula in the maternity ward, so the effect of very early hospital formula could not be analysed. Probable postpartum depression was screened by questionnaire, not diagnosed clinically.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pacifier use or early formula introduction caused shorter breastfeeding. This was an observational study with associations only, and the authors said it is difficult to identify cause and effect, especially for formula.