Effectiveness of professional breastfeeding home-support

The effect of professional home-support on the success of breastfeeding was investigated to determine whether breastfeeding women who received professional home-support would breastfeed longer than similar women who did not receive this support. Fifty-two volunteers of lower socio-economic status were recruited for this study from four obstetrical clinics and were randomly assigned to an intervention or a comparison group. Both groups received the standard clinic and in-hospital breastfeeding teaching and were given breastfeeding instruction in the hospital by the researcher. The women in the intervention group received, in addition, an average of seven home breastfeeding support contacts by the researcher over two months postpartum, and were provided with the researcher's phone number. Women in the comparison group did not receive home visits but had access to the clinic nutritionist if any questions or problems arose.More than half (61.5%) of the intervention group subjects were still breastfeeding at two months post-partum versus approximately one-third (34.6%) of the comparison group (p < 0.01). These results suggest that professional home breastfeeding support programs may be effective in increasing the duration of breastfeeding among this population, thereby achieving one of the Surgeon General’s health objectives.