IJERPH, Vol. 16, Pages 3917: The Effect of Health Worker Training on Early Initiation of Breastfeeding in South Sudan: A Hospital-based before and after Study (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)

Globally, suboptimal breastfeeding contributes to more than 800,000 child deaths annually. In South Sudan, few women breastfeed early. We assessed the effect of a Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative training on early initiation of breastfeeding at Juba Teaching Hospital in South Sudan. We carried out the training for health workers after a baseline survey. We recruited 806 mothers both before and four to six months after training. We used a modified Poisson model to assess the effect of training. The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding increased from 48% (388/806) before to 91% (732/806) after training. Similarly, early initiation of breastfeeding increased from 3% (3/97) before to 60% (12/20) after training among women who delivered by caesarean section. About 8% (67/806) of mothers discarded colostrum before compared to 3% (24/806) after training. Further, 17% (134/806) of mothers used pre-lacteal feeds before compared to only 2% (15/806) after training. Regardless of the mode of birth, the intervention was effective in increasing early initiation of breastfeeding [adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) 1.69, 95% confidence interval CI (1.57-1.82)]. These findings suggest an urgent need to roll out the training to other hospitals in South Sudan. This will result in improved breastfeeding practices, maternal, and infant health.