Table 2 Effects of different timings of interventions
Time intervention delivered | Number of trials | No of events | Effect | Certainty | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intervention | Control | Relative (95% CI) | Absolute (95% CI) | |||
Number of women who do not initiate breastfeeding within 1Â h of birth | ||||||
 Antenatal only | 1 trial | 35/108 (32.4%) | 58/86 (67.4%) | RR 0.48 (0.35 to 0.65) | 351 fewer per 1000 (from 236 fewer to 438 fewer) | Low |
 Antenatal and postnatal | 6 trials | 1003/1805 (55.6%) | 1130/1732 (65.2%) | RR 0.79 (0.57 to 1.08) | 137 fewer per 1000 (from 52 more to 281 fewer) | Low |
Number of women who stop any breastfeeding before 4–6 weeks postpartum | ||||||
 Antenatal only | 6 trials | 319/782 (40.8%) | 338/707 (47.8%) | RR 0.86 (0.72 to 1.03) | 67 fewer per 1000 (from 14 more to 134 fewer) | Low |
 Postnatal only | 12 trials (13 comparisons) | 461/2039 (22.6%) | 467/1838 (25.4%) | RR 0.83 (0.69 to 1.00) | 43 fewer per 1000 (from 0 fewer to 79 fewer) | Low |
 Antenatal and postnatal | 11 trials | 416/1173 (35.5%) | 453/1166 (38.9%) | RR 0.91 (0.78 to 1.05) | 35 fewer per 1000 (from 19 more to 85 fewer) | Moderate |
Number of women who stop any breastfeeding before 6 months postpartum | ||||||
 Antenatal only | 6 trials | 545/782 (69.7%) | 526/707 (74.4%) | RR 0.93 (0.88 to 0.98) | 52 fewer per 1000 (from 15 fewer to 89 fewer) | Moderate |
 Postnatal only | 18 trials (19 comparisons) | 2188/4083 (53.6%) | 1286/2546 (50.5%) | RR 0.96 (0.88 to 1.04) | 20 fewer per 1000 (from 20 more to 61 fewer) | Low |
 Antenatal and postnatal | 6 trials | 334/547 (61.1%) | 407/541 (75.2%) | RR 0.79 (0.67 to 0.93) | 158 fewer per 1000 (from 53 fewer to 248 fewer) | Low |
Number of women who stop exclusive breastfeeding before 4–6 weeks postpartum | ||||||
 Antenatal only | 6 trials | 450/704 (63.9%) | 399/570 (70.0%) | RR 0.95 (0.89 to 1.02) | 35 fewer per 1000 (from 14 more to 77 fewer) | Moderate |
 Postnatal only | 12 trials (13 comparisons) | 1009/1943 (51.9%) | 935/1503 (62.2%) | RR 0.71 (0.59 to 0.85) | 180 fewer per 1000 (from 93 fewer to 255 fewer) | Low |
 Antenatal and postnatal | 16 trials (17 comparisons) | 855/1690 (50.6%) | 1090/1696 (64.3%) | RR 0.81 (0.69 to 0.94) | 122 fewer per 1000 (from 39 fewer to 199 fewer) | Low |
Number of women who stop exclusive breastfeeding before 6 months postpartum | ||||||
 Antenatal only | 5 trials | 601/671 (89.6%) | 494/535 (92.3%) | RR 0.98 (0.96 to 1.01) | 18 fewer per 1000 (from 9 more to 37 fewer) | Moderate |
 Postnatal only | 16 trials | 1483/2002 (74.1%) | 1575/1926 (81.8%) | RR 0.88 (0.81 to 0.96) | 98 fewer per 1000 (from 33 fewer to 155 fewer) | Low |
 Antenatal and postnatal | 15 trials | 1663/2718 (61.2%) | 2334/2693 (86.7%) | RR 0.71 (0.55 to 0.93) | 251 fewer per 1000 (from 61 fewer to 390 fewer) | Low |
Number of infants fed with bottles during the first 6 months postpartum | ||||||
 Postnatal only | 3 trials | 143/331 (43.2%) | 188/328 (57.3%) | RR 0.77 (0.68 to 0.87) | 132 fewer per 1000 (from 75 fewer to 183 fewer) | Moderate |
 Antenatal and postnatal | 2 trials | 260/398 (65.3%) | 280/393 (71.2%) | RR 0.92 (0.85 to 1.00) | 57 fewer per 1000 (from 0 fewer to 107 fewer) | Moderate |