EFFECT OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT ON SUCCESSFUL BREAST-FEEDING
Abstract
Aim. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of neonatal birth weight on breastfeeding outcomes. Methods. The study was conducted in the Centre of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos between 1 September 2019 and 1 April 2020. 342 full-term pregnant women who gave birth to healthy newborns and were able to breastfeed with no clinical or physical contraindications were included in this study. Mothers were divided into three groups based on the birth weight of their newborns: group 1, hypotrophic newborns; group 2, normal weight newborns; group 3, hypertrophic neonates. Data analysis was performed using R version 4.0.3. Results. Mothers of low birth weight neonates reported most breastfeeding difficulties (p = 0.03). In group 1, group 2, and group 3 reported rate of breastfeeding problems was 29%, 16% and 8%, respectively. During the first days of life, low weight neonates lost 7.3% of their birth weight, whereas normal weight and hypertrophic newborns lost about 6.5% of their birth weight. Conclusion. Women with hypotrophic neonates had more breastfeeding difficulties than women with normal or high birth weight babies.