Carrying case notes may also
lead to little or no difference in miscarriages, stillbirths or neonatal deaths,
breastfeeding initiation, smoking cessation, or in availability
of complete antenatal records at the time
of delivery or the loss
of case notes (low - certainty evidence).
Some barriers include the negative attitudes
of women and their partners and family members, as well as health care professionals, toward
breastfeeding, whereas the main reasons that women do not start or give up
breastfeeding are reported to be poor family and social support, perceived milk insufficiency, breast problems, maternal or infant illness, and return to outside employment.2 Several strategies have been used to promote
breastfeeding, such as setting standards for maternity services3, 4 (eg, the joint World Health Organization — United Nations Children's Fund [WHO - UNICEF] Baby Friendly Initiative), public education through media campaigns, and health professionals and peer -
led initiatives to support individual mothers.5 — 9 Support from the infant's father through active participation in the
breastfeeding decision, together with a positive attitude and knowledge about the benefits
of breastfeeding, has been shown to have a strong influence on the
initiation and duration
of breastfeeding in observational studies, 2,10 but scientific evidence is not available as to whether training fathers to manage the most common lactation difficulties can enhance
breastfeeding rates.
As a consequence
of this research the past two decades (1989 - 2009) have witnessed a) a renewed recognition
of the importance
of contact and touch for babies in the context
of improving
breastfeeding initiation and duration [17]; b) an increased awareness
of the role that close parental proximity and monitoring
of babies plays in reducing SIDS and neglect [18][19]; and c) the impact
of early mother - infant separation on long - term mental health [20]-- all
leading to a resurgence
of interest in parent - infant contact, particularly sleep contact.