Breastfeeding help raised confidence, and fewer mothers stopped before six months.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   5,408 women in 17 studies from six countries, mostly high-income ones. They were healthy, pregnant or breastfeeding, and about 29 years old on average.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each study added teaching and support to usual maternity care. Most were one-to-one. The other group got usual maternity care only.

3. 03

   What happened

   Mothers given extra help rated themselves more confident, and fewer stopped before six months. Fewer also stopped feeding only breast milk by four to six weeks, but stopping altogether did not clearly change. Feeding only breast milk to six months changed a little, and only one study reported mothers feeling they had too little milk.

What the review found

1. HelpedMotivation

   Across nine studies, mothers given extra help rated themselves more confident up to four to six weeks.

   Pooled analysis of 9 studies with 1,911 people · vs usual maternity care alone · they rated themselves · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot

2. HelpedGoals

   Across seven studies, fewer mothers stopped breastfeeding by six months with extra help.

   Pooled analysis of 7 studies with 3,355 people · vs usual maternity care alone

3. HelpedGoals

   Across five studies, fewer mothers with extra help stopped feeding only breast milk by four to six weeks.

   Pooled analysis of 5 studies with 3,183 people · vs usual maternity care alone

4. No differenceGoals

   Across five studies, extra help made no clear difference to stopping breastfeeding by four to six weeks.

   Pooled analysis of 5 studies with 1,662 people · vs usual maternity care alone

Source