Menu ENN Search

Effectiveness of Breastfeeding Support Packages in Low- and Middle-Income Countries for Infants under Six Months: A Systematic Review

Author: Ritu Rana, Marie McGrath, Ekta Sharma, Paridhi Gupta and Marko Kerac
Year: 2021
Resource type: Research
Small and nutritionally at-risk infants under six months, defined as those with wasting, underweight, or other forms of growth failure, are at high-risk of mortality and morbidity. The World Health Organisation 2013 guidelines on severe acute malnutrition highlight the need to effectively manage this vulnerable group, but programmatic challenges are widely reported. This review aims to inform future management strategies for small and nutritionally at-risk infants under six months in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by synthesising evidence on existing breastfeeding support packages for all infants under six months. We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Global Health databases from inception to 18 July 2018. Intervention of interest were breastfeeding support packages. Studies reporting breastfeeding practices and/or caregivers’/healthcare staffs’ knowledge/skills/practices for infants under six months from LMICs were included. Study quality was assessed using NICE quality appraisal checklist for intervention studies. A narrative data synthesis using the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) reporting guideline was conducted and key features of successful programmes identified. Of 15,256 studies initially identified, 41 were eligible for inclusion. They were geographically diverse, representing 22 LMICs. Interventions were mainly targeted at mother–infant pairs and only 7% (n = 3) studies included at-risk infants. Studies were rated to be of good or adequate quality. Twenty studies focused on hospital-based interventions, another 20 on community-based and one study compared both. Among all interventions, breastfeeding counselling (n = 6) and education (n = 6) support packages showed the most positive effect on breastfeeding practices followed by breastfeeding training (n = 4), promotion (n = 4) and peer support (n = 3). Breastfeeding education support (n = 3) also improved caregivers’ knowledge/skills/practices. Identified breastfeeding support packages can serve as "primary prevention" interventions for all infants under six months in LMICs. For at-risk infants, these packages need to be adapted and formally tested in future studies. Future work should also examine impacts of breastfeeding support on anthropometry and morbidity outcomes. The review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018102795). 
 
Original link to resource here.

Download

Effectiveness-of-Breastfeeding-Support-Packages-in-Low-and-Middle-Income-Countries-for-Infants-under-Six-Months-A-Systematic-Review_Nutrients2021.pdf (PDF, 541kb)

More like this

FEX: Effectiveness of breastfeeding support packages in low- and middle-income countries for infants under six months

View this article as a pdf Research snapshot1 Small and nutritionally at-risk infants under six months of age, defined as those with wasting, underweight or other forms of...

MAMI Evidence

MAMI Evidence There are a range of ongoing research activities by the MAMI Global Network and its partners. See below for a list of peer-reviewed publications. Upcoming...

Resource: Feeding Interventions for Infants with Growth Failure in the First Six Months of Life: A Systematic Review

Abstract (1) Introduction: Current evidence on managing infants under six months with growth failure or other nutrition-related risk is sparse and low quality. This review...

FEX: Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect

Summary of research1 Location: Global What we know: The decision not to breastfeed a child impacts on the health, nutrition and development of a child and on women's...

FEX: Management of At-risk Mothers and Infants under six months (MAMI): Update and direction

View this article as a pdf Summary of meeting report1 A two-day meeting of the MAMI Special Interest Group (SIG)2 was held on 12-13 December 2019, organised by Emergency...

FEX: Tools for working with small, nutritionally at-risk infants: A mixed-methods study

This is a summary of the following paper: Engler R, McGrath M & Kerac M (2023) Training packages and patient management tools for healthcare staff working with small,...

Resource: Key considerations for developing patient management tools for small and nutritionally at-risk infants: A scoping review

Abstract Background: To improve global child health, efficacious interventions are important but real-world effectiveness is crucial; this requires translating technical...

MAMI News and Events

MAMI News If you would like to receive MAMI Global Network's monthly updates please subscribe here. Past issues of the newsletter can be viewed here. If you would like to...

FEX: Piloting the C-MAMI approach in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh

By Anne Marie Kueter, Alice Burrell, Sarah Butler, Mostofa Sarwar and Habibur Rahaman View this article as a pdf Anne Marie is a nutritionist with over five years'...

FEX: Challenges in protecting non-breastfed infants in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh

View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici Alice Burrell is a public health nutritionist with five years of experience working in the nutrition...

FEX: Outcomes and risk factors for infants under six months old with severe acute malnutrition in Bangladesh

Research snapshot 1 Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) affects around four million infants under six months of age (u6m) worldwide, but evidence underpinning their care is...

FEX: Carers’ and health workers’ perspectives on malnutrition in infants aged under six months in rural Ethiopia: A qualitative study

View this article as a pdf This is a summary of the following paper: Jibat N, Rana R, Negesse A et al (2022) Carers' and health workers' perspectives on malnutrition in...

FEX: Growth faltering in early infancy: highlights from a two-day scientific consultation

View this article as a pdf Report summary1 Growth faltering among babies less than six months of age remains a significant concern in India which has not so far received...

Blog post: World Breastfeeding Week 2022: Let's get in step together to support infants and mothers most in need

At the beginning of August, ENN participated in a global webinar to mark World Breastfeeding Week organised by the Global Breastfeeding Collective (GBC), supported by UNICEF....

FEX: Making connections: Joint meeting of WaSt Technical Interest Group and MAMI Special Interest Group

ENN coordinates two international technical groups, the Management of at-risk Mothers and Infants under six months Special Interest Group (MAMI SIG) and the Wasting and...

FEX: Managing at risk mothers and infants under six months in India – no time to waste

View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici By Praveen Kumar, Sila Deb, Arjan de Wagt, Piyush Gupta, Nita Bhandari, Neha Sareen and Satinder...

FEX: Severe malnutrition in infants under six months old: outcomes and risk factors in Bangladesh

Summary of research1 Location: Bangladesh What we know: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants under six months with uncomplicated severe acute...

FEX: Research priorities for infant and young child feeding in emergencies

View this article as a pdf Kenya Addison is a development consultant in the Human Development Practice at Genesis Analytics. This research article was adapted from an...

FEX: The Paediatric Development Clinic: A model to improve medical, nutritional and developmental outcomes for high-risk children aged under-five in rural Rwanda

By Kathryn Beck, Catherine M Kirk, Jessica Bradford, Christine Mutaganzwa, Evrard Nahimana and Olivier Bigirumwami View this article as a pdf Kathryn Beck is the Nutrition...

FEX: Concerns that The Lancet double-burden series may undermine moderate wasting treatment

View this article as a pdf By Mark Manary, Donna Wegner, D Taylor Hendrixson, Rebecca Roediger, Meghan Callaghan Mark Manary is one of the world's foremost experts in...

Close

Reference this page

Ritu Rana, Marie McGrath, Ekta Sharma, Paridhi Gupta and Marko Kerac (2021). Effectiveness of Breastfeeding Support Packages in Low- and Middle-Income Countries for Infants under Six Months: A Systematic Review. www.ennonline.net/breastfeedingsupportpackagesinfantsu6m

(ENN_6975)

Close

Download to a citation manager

The below files can be imported into your preferred reference management tool, most tools will allow you to manually import the RIS file. Endnote may required a specific filter file to be used.