Background

The recent National Nutrition Survey of 2013 demonstrated that 16.7% of women in childbearing age are underweight, and 5.0–10.0% of these women manifested a Hemoglobin (Hb) level less than 11.0 g/dl. The purpose of this study was to investigate if such maternal nutritional status affects success of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practice.

Methods

This cross-sectional study investigated 1532 dyads of mothers and infants with full-term singleton pregnancies delivered during 2011 at a perinatal center in Tokyo. Outcome is EBF initiation defined as the successful practice at discharge and 1 month after discharge. A logistic regression model was applied to investigate the impact of Hb levels (

Results

Mean age was 34 years, 23.0% were underweight and 63.0% were nulliparous. The success rate for EBF initiation at discharge and at 1 month after discharge was 72.7 and 63.0% for a Hb level P P 500 ml ( P = 0.089 and P = 0.011), maternal age ( P P P P P = 0.002 and P = 0.012), gestational week ( P = 0.006 and P = 0.002), Low Birth Weight (LBW) ( P P P P = 0.020). After adjusting for the covariates, compared with a Hb level ≥11.0 g/dl, a Hb level

Conclusion

Maternal severe anemia after delivery was associated with the risk of unsuccessful initiation of EBF even after adjusting for bleeding at delivery, suggesting the importance of dietary management especially in the later trimester.