BREASTFEEDING AND BABY FRIENDLY HOSPITAL INITIATIVE IN SLOVENIA

BREASTFEEDING AND BABY FRIENDLY HOSPITAL INITIATIVE IN SLOVENIA

B. Brataniþ

, N. Fidler Mis

, Z. Felc

, P. Truden Dobrin

1

Neonatal Unit,

Centre for Nutrition, University Children's Hospital, Ljubljana,

3

Neonatal Unit, General Hospital, Celje,

Institut for Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Introduction: Slovenia has a population of 2 million. Birth rate has been sharply declining from 30,000 of newborn infants in 1979 to 17,490 in 2002. A large proportion of mothers have traditionally been breastfeeding. We aimed to achieve the first national coverage data for the in hospital breastfeeding rates over ten years period and to evaluate the influence of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) on initiation rate of breastfeeding.

Methods: The perinatal data of mothers and infants, hospital of birth and breastfeeding were collected by the National Perinatal Information System in all maternity hospitals (n=14) in Slovenia. Data were transferred to the computer National database at the Institute of Public Health of Slovenia. The present study includes data for all infants born in Slovenia from January 1

1993 to December 31

2002 (n = 184,560 live born infants;

>99% were delivered at the maternity hospitals). Breastfeeding practices early postpartum (days 3-6 after delivery) were classified as exclusive breastfeeding (only human milk), partial breastfeeding (human milk or a combination of human milk and formula) and not breastfeeding at all. Ever-breastfeeding rate (%) was calculated as:

exclusive breastfeeding rate (%) + breastfeeding rate (%). The trends in breastfeeding practices during observed time period were analyzed in comparison to the dynamics of BFHI.

Results: Average a) exclusive breastfeeding, b) breastfeeding and c) no breastfeeding rates (min, year - max, year) were: a) 90.2% (87.0%, 1999 - 92.7%, 1994), b) 6.6%

(3.7%, 1994 – 10.3%, 1999) and c) 3.2% (2.3%, 2001 – 3.8%, 1993). Relatively high ever-breastfeeding rate has been increasing from 95.9% in 1995 to 97.7% in 2001. The main increase occurred in the group of partially breast-fed babies (from 3.9% in 1993 to 8.9% in 2002). BFHI in Slovenia started in 1998. By the year 2001 10 of 14 maternity hospitals were awarded BFH status. In 2002 84% of infants in Slovenia were born in BFH. This is by far the highest rate among 11 new EU Member States (range in other countries: 2–30% infants born in BFH; WHO publication EUR/03/5045442).

Conclusions: The prevalence of initiation of breastfeeding in Slovenia has been high (90% exclusive breastfeeding, 7% partial breastfeeding) during the observed ten-year period. Ever-breastfeeding rate has been increasing during the past six years, from 96.0%

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in 1995 to 97.7% in 2001. The majority of infants, 85%, are born in BFH. The achievement of BFHI is that a large number of women changed from not breastfeeding to at least partial breast-feeding.

Key words: breastfeeding, Baby-Friendly Hospital, Slovenia.

Acknowledgement: Supported by UNICEF Slovenia.