Medical student Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas, United States
Background: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many unknowns about the risk of vertical transmission, risk of transmission via breastmilk, and other risks to newborns. Given these uncertainties, policy recommendations evolved throughout the pandemic. It was anticipated that some of these policies, such as separating newborns from infected mothers for 14 days and shortening hospitalizations for healthy newborns and mothers, would negatively impact exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) during the maternity hospital stay.
Objective: To compare rates of EBF among healthy infants in the Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) Pavilion for Women (PFW) Mother-Baby Unit (MBU), a Baby Friendly Hospital, eight months before and after the arrival of COVID-19 in Houston.
Design/Methods: We compared the average rate of EBF in the TCH PFW MBU in the eight-month period before the arrival of COVID-19 in Houston, from July 2019 to February 2020, and in the eight-month period after the arrive of COVID-19, from March 2020 to October 2020.
Results: The average EBF rate in the pre-COVID-19 period was 53.25% and the average EBF rate in the post-COVID-19 period was 54.13%. Using an unpaired t-test, the data did not show a statistically significant difference between the two averages (p=0.66; 95% CI -5.11 to 3.36). While there is variation around the mean, these changes are similar to the variation in EBF rates present in previous years in the PFW MBU. Conclusion(s): Although there was concern that COVID-19 related policy changes would hinder EBF in the PFW MBU, the EBF rates were unchanged. This demonstrates that the hospital was able to follow the AAP/CDC recommendations and still maintain their commitment to supporting EBF among healthy newborns. These findings are important as TCH continues to function as a Baby Friendly Hospital and stives to encourage exclusive breastfeeding. In spite of the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare, this data shows that mothers still received strong support in initiating EBF while in the hospital.
Authors/Institutions: Imogen Clover-Brown, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States; Charleta Guillory, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States; Nancy Hurst, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States
