Rates of breastfeeding initiation among newborns

Rates of breastfeeding initiation in hospitals with a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit are limited. A follow-up study with prospectively collected data in a Danish university hospital with approximately 5000 annual births was conducted. Between 1 February 2015 and 30 June 2015, 1939 newborns were enrolled in the study. Rates of frequencies for initiation of breastfeeding were calculated. High initiations rates for breastfeeding were found among term-born infants. Newborns of multiparous women had the highest initiation rate of 91.7% and newborns delivered by cesarean section had the lowest initiation rate of 73.3%.