Shlemkevych O. Clinical and Epidemiological basis of breastfeeding and its optimization in infants

The aime of the research was to increase frequency and duration of breastfeeding by the implementation of principals of successful breastffeding in health care mother and child department. We confirmed that the implementation of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative in mother and child health care institutions is essential for prolongation of breastfeeding duration and prevalence as well as decrease of morbidity in infants and young children. We established that prolonged (over 6 months) exclusive breastfeeding and prolonged breastfeeding have a positive effect on neuropsychical development and decreases morbidity in infants. We revealed that feeding on demand and not giving of any food except breast milk in maternity department are the main principles that influence on duration of exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding in general. The main factors that determine the duration of breastfeeding include pre-partum education of women by medical professionals, fulfillment of principles of successful breastfeeding in maternity department and children polyclinics.