Many new mothers initiate breast-feeding but stop within weeks of delivering. Cindy-Lee Dennis and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of peer support on prolonging the duration of breast-feeding and found that peer support did make a difference.
Recruited from Toronto-area hospitals, 256 new mothers who decided to breast-feed were randomly assigned to either regular care or to telephone-based peer support from volunteers with breast-feeding experience.
The authors report that at follow-up at 4, 8 and 12 weeks post partum, mothers in the breast-feeding peer-support group showed consistently higher rates of breast-feeding than those in the usual care group (92.4% v. 83.9% at 4 weeks, 84.8% v. 75.0% at 8 weeks, and 81.1% v. 66.9% at 12 weeks).
The authors add that most of those who evaluated their peer-support intervention were satisfied with the experience.
In a related commentary, Ruth Lawrence applauds the study for supplying "the needed evidence that indeed peer support does make a difference in the long-term outcome of breast-feeding."
Other contact:
Dr. Ruth Lawrence, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY tel. 716 275-4354, email: ruth_lawrence@urmc.rochester.edu
p. 21 The effect of peer support on breast-feeding duration among primiparous women: a randomized controlled trial
— C.L. Dennis
p. 42 Peer support: making a difference in breast-feeding duration
— R.A. Lawrence
Canadian Medical Association Journal