The impact of the Baby-friendly hospital initiative: study of 17,000 mothers

Abstract

Breastfeeding has been linked as a factor in reducing the risk of infection and atopic diseases in newborns. Nonetheless, This evidence is based solely on observational studies, with potential sources of bias (either by measurement, selection,
confounding variables or reverse causality, among others), raising doubts about the magnitude of such benefits in industrialized countries. PROBIT (Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial), a study controlled multicenter,
aimed to evaluate the effects of BFHI in promoting breastfeeding mother, as to the duration and exclusivity of the breastfeeding, the occurrence of infections gastrointestinal and respiratory, as well as the diagnosis of atopic
eczema among children selected from 31 hospitals and their respective polyclinics in Belarus.