Early postpartum discharge and subsequent breastfeeding

Background: Early postpartum discharge of babies was gradually introduced i n Sweden in the 1980s on ideological grounds, based on the premise that mat ernity wards were unnatural settings for mothers and babies and hampered br eastfeeding. From about 1990, early discharge was used as a means to reduce costs. The purpose of this study was to examine if mandated early discharg e at Central Hospital of Karlstad, Sweden, influenced subsequent breastfeed ing. Method: Breastfeeding outcomes of infants up to six months of age of a ll births in 1993 (n = 3231) were compared with the outcome of newborns in 1990 (n = 1462), Results: Breastfeeding at six months postpartum continued to increase during the early 1990s for both healthy and sick infants, irres pective of whether or not they were discharged early In infants born in 199 5 the breastfeeding rate at six months was 64 percent for healthy newborns and 53 percent for sick newborns. Conclusion: Factors other than the time o f discharge, most likely a positive change of attitude in society and vigor ous introduction of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, seem to have bee n more important for successful breastfeeding.