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. 2023 May 24;9(6):e16235.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16235. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Early initiation of breastfeeding up to six months among mothers after cesarean section or vaginal birth: A scoping review

Yunefit Ulfa  1   2 , Naoko Maruyama  1 , Yumiko Igarashi  1 , Shigeko Horiuchi  1
Affiliations

Early initiation of breastfeeding up to six months among mothers after cesarean section or vaginal birth: A scoping review

Yunefit Ulfa et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: Early initiation of breastfeeding is important for establishing continued breastfeeding. However, previous research report that cesarean section (C-section) may hinder early initiation of breastfeeding. Despite this, there is currently a lack of literature that examines the rates of breastfeeding after both cesarean section and vaginal birth globally.

Research aims: The objective of this scoping review was to systematically assess the available literature on the rate of early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour and exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months after C-section and vaginal birth, as well as any other factors associated with initiation and exclusive breastfeeding.

Methods: We adhered to the PRISMA extension guidelines for scoping reviews in conducting our review. In August 2022, we carried out an electronic database search on CINALH, PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, and also manually searched the reference list.

Results: A total of 55 articles were included in the scoping review. The majority of these studies found that mothers who delivered vaginally had higher rates of breastfeeding compared to those who underwent a C-section, at various time points such as breastfeeding initiation, hospital discharge, one month, three months, and six months postpartum. Notably, there was a significant difference in the rate of early initiation of breastfeeding between the two groups. However, at 3 and 6 months after delivery the gap of exclusive breastfeeding rate between C-section and vaginal delivery is narrow. Breastfeeding education, health care providers support, and mother and baby bonding are other factors associate with initiation and exclusive breastfeeding.

Conclusions: The rate of breastfeeding initiation after C-section has remained low to date. This is due in part to insufficient knowledge about and support for breastfeeding from healthcare providers.

Keywords: Breast feeding; Cesarean section; Lactation; Postpartum period; Vaginal birth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of study selection.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentages of early initiation of breastfeeding (≤1 h).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentages of exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Percentages of exclusive breastfeeding one month after birth.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Percentages of exclusive breastfeeding three months after birth.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Percentages of exclusive breastfeeding six months after birth.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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