Professional breastfeeding support for first-time mothers: a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of two postnatal professional support interventions on the duration of any and exclusive breastfeeding. DESIGN: Multicentre, three-arm, cluster randomised controlled trial. POPULATION: A cohort of 722 primiparous breastfeeding mothers with uncomplicated, full-term pregnancies. METHODS: The three study interventions were: (1) standard postnatal maternity care; (2) standard care plus three in-hospital professional breastfeeding support sessions, of 30-45 minutes in duration; or (2) standard care plus weekly post-discharge breastfeeding telephone support, of 20-30 minutes in duration, for 4 weeks. The interventions were delivered by four trained research nurses, who were either highly experienced registered midwives or certified lactation consultants. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of any and exclusive breastfeeding at 1, 2, and 3 months postpartum. RESULTS: Rates of any and exclusive breastfeeding were higher among participants in the two intervention groups at all follow-up points, when compared with those who received standard care. Participants receiving telephone support were significantly more likely to continue any breastfeeding at 1 month (76.2 versus 67.3%; odds ratio, OR 1.63, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI 1.10-2.41) and at 2 months (58.6 versus 48.9%; OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.04-2.10), and to be exclusively breastfeeding at 1 month (28.4 versus 16.9%; OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.24-2.90). Participants in the in-hospital support group were also more likely to be breastfeeding at all time points, but the effect was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Professional breastfeeding telephone support provided early in the postnatal period, and continued for the first month postpartum, improves breastfeeding duration among first-time mothers. It is also possible that it was the continuing nature of the support that increased the effectiveness of the intervention, rather than the delivery of the support by telephone specifically.

Auditing use of antibiotics in Zimbabwean neonates.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low-income settings. As signs of sepsis are non-specific and deterioration precipitous, antibiotics are often used profusely in these settings where diagnostics may not be readily available. Harare Central Hospital, Zimbabwe, delivers 12000 babies per annum admitting ∼4800 to the neonatal unit. Overcrowding, understaffing and rapid staff turnover are consistent problems. Suspected sepsis is highly prevalent, and antibiotics widely used. We audited the impact of training and benchmarking intervention on rationalizing antibiotic prescription using local, World Health Organization-derived, guidelines as the standard. METHODS: An initial audit of admission diagnosis and antibiotic use was performed between 8th May - 6th June 2018 as per the audit cycle. An intern training programme, focusing on antimicrobial stewardship and differentiating between babies 'at risk of' versus 'with' clinically-suspected sepsis was instituted post-primary audit. Re-audit was conducted after 5 months. RESULTS: Sepsis was the most common admitting diagnosis by interns at both time points but reduced at repeat audit (81% versus 59%, P<0.0001). Re-audit after 5 months demonstrated a decrease in antibiotic prescribing at admission and discharge. Babies prescribed antibiotics at admission decreased from 449 (98%) to 96 (51%), P<0.0001. Inpatient days of therapy (DOT) reduced from 1243 to 1110/1000 patient-days. Oral amoxicillin prescription at discharge reduced from 349/354 (99%) to 1% 1/161 (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: A substantial decrease in antibiotic use was achieved by performance feedback, training and leadership, although ongoing performance review will be key to ensuring safety and sustainability.

Fall in Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) disease following implementation of a booster campaign.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a Hib vaccination booster campaign targeting children aged 6 months to 4 years between May and September 2003, following a nationwide increase in the number of invasive Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) cases in all age groups after 1999. DESIGN: The Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections prospectively monitors all cases of H influenzae disease in England and Wales and collects data from primary care trusts (PCTs) on coverage for vaccines in the childhood programme. POPULATION: Adults and children in England and Wales (January 1991 to December 2006) RESULTS: Data on vaccine coverage during the Hib booster campaign were available for 288/303 (95%) PCTs in England and revealed coverage of 71.8% for the 6-12-month age group and 63.2% for the 13-48-month age group. The Hib booster campaign resulted in a dramatic reduction in cases within 12 months in the age groups targeted for the booster. This decline was followed by a reduction in the number of cases reported among older children and adults. Since the campaign, however, there has been an increase in the number of cases reported among 1-3-year-old children (13 cases in 2004, 26 cases in 2005 and 32 cases in 2006), primarily in children who were too young to be vaccinated in the booster campaign. This group of children will be targeted in the pre-school catch-up programme that began in September 2007. CONCLUSIONS: The Hib booster campaign has helped to re-establish herd immunity in the UK. The increase in Hib disease among toddlers after 2004 supports the decision to introduce routine boosting for Hib at 12 months of age.

Are height and leg length universal markers of childhood conditions? The Guangzhou Biobank cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: In developed western populations longer legs have been shown to be a marker of better early childhood conditions. In the first generations to experience the epidemiologic transition and associated economic development, epigenetic constraints on growth might preclude improved childhood conditions from increasing leg growth or height. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the association of parental growth environment, proxied by parental literacy, and childhood conditions, proxied by parental possessions, with leg length, sitting height and height in a cross-sectional sample from 2005-6 of 9998 Chinese people aged at least 50 years from phase 2 of the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study. MAIN RESULTS: Adjusted for age and sex, the association of childhood conditions with leg length and height varied with parental literacy (interaction p values <0.01 and 0.03), but not for sitting height (p value 0.43), with statistically significant trends (p values <0.01) for parental possessions to be associated with longer legs and greater height only in the offspring of two literate parents where legs were longer by 0.56 cm (95% CI 0.27 to 0.86) and height greater by 1.16 cm (95% CI 0.74 to 1.58) for participants with most, compared with least, parental possessions in childhood. CONCLUSIONS: Epigenetic influences originating in earlier generations may constrain growth during the infancy and/or childhood phases in very recently developed populations. Neither height nor leg length should be assumed to be consistent proxies of early life environment with corresponding implications for economic history, the aetiology of some chronic diseases and the monitoring of population health.

Is leg length a biomarker of childhood conditions in older Chinese women? The Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: In developed western populations longer legs have been shown to be a biomarker of better early childhood conditions. It was hypothesised that in transitioning populations better childhood conditions may bring forward puberty and thus decrease leg length, counteracting the overall positive effect of a favourable childhood environment on leg growth. DESIGN: Structural equation modelling was used to assess the interrelationship of age, education, father's job, age of menarche and leg length in a cross-sectional sample of 7273 Chinese women aged at least 50 years from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study. RESULTS: Leg length had no significant association with education or father's occupation on bivariable testing. After including age of menarche in the model, education was associated with longer legs (0.45 cm longer per 10 years of education, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.71). Education was also associated with younger age of menarche (1.21 years younger per 10 years of education, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.34), which was in turn associated with shorter legs (0.23 cm shorter per year of menarche earlier, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.27). CONCLUSIONS: In older Chinese women leg length is not a universal biomarker of childhood conditions, when proxied by her educational level and father's occupation. Nutritionally driven epigenetic influences operating over generations may constrain growth in very recently developed populations. Given the impact of childhood conditions on health, and the dearth of long-term records outside the industrialised world, a greater understanding of the influences on growth in the developing world is required.

Parity and the metabolic syndrome in older Chinese women: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether parity or gravidity contributes to the development of the metabolic syndrome (MS). METHODS: The first phase of the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study recruited 7352 women and 3065 men aged 50-93 years in 2003-4. Data on the number of live births and pregnancies, other reproduction-associated factors and socioeconomic and lifestyles factors were collected by standardized interview. The MS components were determined through physical examination and measurement of fasting blood samples. MS was identified if waist circumference was >or= 90 cm for men or >or= 80 cm for women, plus any two of: (a) raised triglyceride (TG) level (1.7 mmol/l) or specific treatment for this lipid abnormality; (b) reduced high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (< 1.03 mmol/l in males or < 1.29 mmol/l in females) or specific treatment for this lipid abnormality; (c) raised blood pressure (BP, systolic BP >or= 130 mmHg or diastolic BP >or= 85 mmHg) or hypertension therapy; and (d) raised fasting glucose (>or= 5.6 mmol/l) or previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes. RESULTS: Before adjustment for potential confounders, we found associations between the number of births and lifestyle and socioeconomic factors in both sexes. However, in women, but not in men, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio, triglyceride and glucose were positively associated with the number of birth after adjusting for a range of potential confounders. The age-adjusted prevalence of the MS increased with the number of births and pregnancies in women, but the gradient for birth was steeper than that for pregnancies [odds ratio change per birth 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-1.22, P < 0.001; odds ratio change per pregnancy 1.11, 95% CI 1.06-1.16, P < 0.001], although attenuating the association adjustment did not affect the significance of these findings. There was no association in men with regard to the number of their partners' live births given the same analysis and similar shared living background with the women. CONCLUSION: Higher parity or gravidity was associated with a consistent increase in the risk of MS in Chinese women. As the association persisted after adjustment for lifestyle factors and there was no association between the risk of MS and the number of births associated with the partners of the males, the association in women may represent a biological response to pregnancy.