Assessment of breastfeeding at Angthong Hospital

Abstract

Breast milk is a valuable nutrition for newborns. Angthong Hospital has been promoting breastfeeding among new mothers. This descriptive study aimed to evaluate the success in breastfeeding in Angthong Hospital. The study included 430 postpartum women who delivered their babies in Angthong Hospital during May to August 2008.Data was collected by interviewing women with structured questionnaires and observing their breastfeeding activities at 2 hrs. and 2 days postpartum, respectively. The descriptive statistics included number, rate, mean and standard deviation. The chisquare test was used to test hypotheses at the significant level of α = 0.05 by using SPSS/version 11.5 The results showed that only 37.7 % of woman succeeded in breastfeeding with a LATCH score >7 at 2 hours postpartum. The success rate was 94.0 % at 2 days postpartum. Latching between mouth and nipple was correct in 49.3% of women at 2 hours postpartum and increased to 98.1 % at 2 days postpartum, the sound of suckling was distinct in 10.2 % of women at 2 hours postpartum which increased to 86 % of women at 2 days postpartum, the holding position of babies during breastfeeding was correct in 15.6 % of women 2 hours postpartum which increased to 48.4 % at 2 days postpartum. The only factor which was significantly associated with the success in breastfeeding was the type of delivery. In conclusion, the success in breastfeeding increases with time during the postpartum period. Vaginal delivery resulted in more successful breastfeeding than caesarean section. Therefore, unnecessary caesarean section should be avoided. Dissemination of knowledge with proper practice of breastfeeding should be promoted for more success in breastfeeding.