Breastfeeding outcomes for mothers with and without home access to e-technologies
Laurent Laborde
Quality of Care Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorNathalie Gelbert-Baudino
Association Française de Pédiatrie Ambulatoire, Groupe Allaitement, Chambéry, France
Search for more papers by this authorJulie Fulcheri
Maternity Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorPatrice Francois
Quality of Care Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Pediatrics department, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorJose Labarere
Quality of Care Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorLaurent Laborde
Quality of Care Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorNathalie Gelbert-Baudino
Association Française de Pédiatrie Ambulatoire, Groupe Allaitement, Chambéry, France
Search for more papers by this authorJulie Fulcheri
Maternity Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorPatrice Francois
Quality of Care Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Pediatrics department, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorJose Labarere
Quality of Care Unit, Grenoble University Hospital, France
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Aim: To estimate the percentage of breastfeeding mothers with home access to e-technologies and to compare breastfeeding outcomes for mothers with and without access to e-technologies.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of 550 breastfeeding mothers discharged from nine maternity units in France.
Results: Overall, 435 mothers (79%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 75–82) had home access to e-technologies. Mothers with access to e-technologies were less likely to be unemployed (6% vs. 15%, p = 0.004), to smoke during pregnancy (8% vs. 16%, p = 0.03), to have a breastfeeding assessment score <8 (39% vs. 59%, p < 0.001) and to use a pacifier (23% vs. 41%, p < 0.001). Although mothers with access to e-technologies had a longer median breastfeeding duration than those without home access to e-technologies (19 vs. 16 weeks, p = 0.02), adjusted hazard ratios for breastfeeding discontinuation (0.85; 95% CI, 0.60–1.21), overall satisfaction rates (73% vs. 67%, p = 0.19) and breastfeeding difficulties after discharge (58% vs. 61%, p = 0.60) were not different for the two groups.
Conclusion: A vast majority of breastfeeding mothers have home access to e-technologies in France. However, access to e-technologies was not independently associated with better breastfeeding outcomes in this study.
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