title: Effect of breastfeeding education on the feeding pattern and health of infants in their first 4 months in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
abstract: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Shiraz, the Islamic Republic of Iran, on 120 pairs of mothers and infants in a maternity hospital that had a rooming-in programme. All 59 mothers in the study group received breastfeeding education, face-to-face, after delivery and during follow-up for 4 months in the mother and child health (MCH) centre or in their homes; the remaining 61 mothers comprised the control group. Exclusive breastfeeding rates were significantly higher in the study group (54%) than in the control group (6.5%), but 5% and 18% of infants, respectively, in the study and control groups had stopped breastfeeding by the age of 4 months. The mean number of days of diarrhoea experienced by infants in the study group were significantly lower (P < or = 0.004) than in the control group. At the end of 4 months, the mean weight and length of the infants were significantly higher (both P < 0.05) in the study group than in the control group. The findings indicate that rooming-in is very important for promoting exclusive breastfeeding and that there is a need for continuous breastfeeding education of mothers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Medical Sciences University of Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Froozani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Permehzadeh
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Motlagh
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Golestan
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control