Breastfeeding initiation: is this influenced by maternal hepatitis B infection?
Tong Leung, V.K.; Lao, T.T.; Suen, S.S.H.; Chan, O.K.; Singh Sahota, D.; Lau, T.K.; Yeung Leung, T.
Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine the Official Journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians 25(11): 2390-2394
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1476-4954 PMID: 22694367 DOI: 10.3109/14767058.2012.697941Document Number: 572595
To elucidate the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on breastfeeding uptake in Chinese mothers in an endemic region. A retrospective cohort study on 63 885 consecutive pregnant delivered between January 1997 and June 2008, were extracted from computerized database to examine the relationship between breastfeeding uptake and maternal HBV status, adjusted for demographic factors. A total of 6593 (10.3%) women were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive, with an annual prevalence of around 10%. In the study period, 29 869 (46.8%) practised breastfeeding, and its prevalence ranged from 35.4 to 54.8% with an increasing trend throughout the years (p < 0.001). HBsAg-positive mothers had a significantly lower rate of breastfeeding (39.2 vs. 47.6% p < 0.001). Multiparas had higher incidence of HBV infection (10.9 vs. 9.8%, p < 0.001) and lower breastfeeding rate (42.2% versus 51.0%, p < 0.001) when compared with primiparas. Among those factors, maternal HBV infection had the strongest negative association with breastfeeding (adjusted odd ratio (aOR) = 0.726, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.689-0.765). Our results suggested maternal HBV infection was one of the factors for the persistently low breastfeeding rate in Hong Kong over the past decades. To promote breastfeeding, it is necessary to generate definitive data on its safety regarding to mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HBV in order to allay the fear and anxiety in HBsAg-positive mothers.