Feeding practices in the first 6 months after delivery: Effects of gestational hypertension

Objective: To identify the effects of gestational hypertension on feeding practices in the first 6 months after delivery.

Study design: A prospective cohort study enrolling 168 mother-newborn pairs (Gestational hypertension group n = 42, Normotensive group n = 124). The gestational hypertension diagnosis criteria was established as a systolic pressure of ≥140 mmHg or a diastolic pressure of ≥90 mmHg after 20 weeks of gestation, while its severity was categorized according to blood pressure, proteinuria, clinical and laboratory analysis. Demographic, clinical and social information were collected from the patient's medical records. In order to collect information about the newborn's feeding practices and possible difficulties in breastfeeding the mothers were interviewed via telephone 30, 60, 120 and 180 days after delivery.

Main outcome measures: Feeding practices (eg. exclusive breastfeeding, predominant breastfeeding, complementary breastfeeding and bottle-feeding) within the first 6 months after delivery.

Results: The mothers with Gestational hypertension displayed greater difficulties in maintaining exclusive breastfeeding over time, when compared to normotensive mothers. There was a greater introduction of milk formulas in the group of women with gestational hypertension, and they presented greater difficulties in maintaining exclusive breastfeeding over time when compared to the group of normotensive mothers at hospital admission (p ≤ 0,0001). The group with gestational hypertension reported higher frequencies of predominant breastfeeding practices and presented shorter durations of breastfeeding after 6 months after delivery.

Conclusions: Women with gestational hypertension are at risk of using complementary breastfeeding and breastfeeding for shorter durations.