ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the effects of early essential newborn care (EENC) on breastfeeding and health outcomes of infants within 3 months of age.Methods:From September 2017 to September 2018, a prospective non-randomized controlled experimental study were carried out in 8 Women & Children's Hospital in Sichuan Province, including 1 municipal hospital and 3 county (district) hospitals as the intervention group and the other 1 municipal hospital and 3 county (district) hospitals as the control group. The intervention group received EENC and the control group received routine newborn care. Clinical data were collected after delivery and at the age of 1- and 3-month, including breastfeeding method, umbilical cord separation time, pneumonia, sepsis and diarrhea. Health outcome of the two groups were compared. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0.Results:There are 91.1% (278/305) of the newborns in the intervention group completed their first breastfeeding before their first mother-baby skin contact, compared with 33.3% (36/108) in the control group ( P<0.001). Exclusive breastfeeding rate before discharge in the intervention group was higher than the control group [(74.5% (228/306) vs. 55.0% (177/322), P<0.001]. The incidences of re-hospitalization and referred to other hospitals due to illness was lower in intervention group than the control group within 1 month of age [7.0% (19/272) vs. 13.3% (37/278), P=0.014]; Umbilical cord separation time in the intervention group was earlier than the control group [(8.3±2.9) d vs. (10.5±3.3) d, P<0.001]; No significant differences existed in the incidences of umbilical cord infection, pneumonia and diarrhea between the two groups ( P>0.05). The incidence of diarrhea in intervention group was higher than that the control group at 3 months of age ( P<0.05); No significant differences existed in the incidences of pneumonia and re-hospitalization and referred to other hospitals due to illness between the two groups ( P>0.05). There was no sepsis case in the two groups. Conclusions:EENC may improve exclusive breastfeeding rate before discharge, reduce the incidences of referral/hospitalization within 1 month and shorten the umbilical cord separation time without causing more infections.