THE ROLE OF NEONATOLOGISTS AND SITE PEDIATRITIANS IN SUPPORTING BREASTFEEDING

Abstract

The first years of life are especially important for the normal development of a child,
therefore, optimal nutrition during this period helps to reduce morbidity and mortality, reducing the
risk of chronic diseases. Breast milk is an ideal food for newborns and infants, but many mothers
stop breastfeeding early, and that is why it is particularly important to target and promote breastfeeding
in the pediatric area. This is due to various reasons, including lack of adequate support for
breastfeeding, the main role in which is assigned to neonatologists and district pediatricians. In
order to subjectively evaluate the work of neonatologists from obstetric hospitals and pediatricians
to support breastfeeding, as well as to study the affect of breastfeeding on the child’s health of, a
survey of 576 mothers who had children aged 1 year was conducted. The study was conducted on the
basis of 6 children’s polyclinics (departments) in St. Petersburg by random sampling. It was found
that about 80% of children immediately after birth were applied to the breast and more than half
of the women, while in the obstetric hospital, planned to continue breastfeeding on average up to
12.1 ± 0.08 months, but the actual feeding time was much lower (average 6.9 ± 0.07 months). In general,
the work of pediatricians of children’s polyclinics to support breastfeeding had a higher score
than that of neonatologists of obstetric hospitals (4.1 ± 0.09 points versus 3.9 ± 0.08 points). However,
recommendations on breastfeeding from precinct pediatricians received 14.5% fewer women than
from neonatologists. Subjective assessment of the health of the child has a clear dependence on the
duration of breastfeeding. The highest assessment of the state of health of the child was given to
women whose babies received breast milk up to 6 and 12 months, the lowest — to respondents whose
babies were on artificial feeding.