Table 3 Effects of different frequencies of interventions
Frequency of intervention | 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 | ||||||
 < 4 times | 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) | Very low |
 ≥ 4 times | 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 | ||||||
 < 4 times | 14 trials (15 comparisons) | 733/2129 (34.4%) | 725/2050 (35.4%) | RR 0.95 (0.84 to 1.07) | 18 fewer per 1000 (from 25 more to 57 fewer) | Low |
 ≥ 4 times | 15 trials | 463/1865 (24.8%) | 533/1661 (32.1%) | RR 0.77 (0.66 to 0.90) | 74 fewer per 1000 (from 32 fewer to 109 fewer) | Low |
Number of women who stop any breastfeeding before 6 months postpartum | ||||||
 < 4 times | 13 trials (14 comparisons) | 1599/2675 (59.8%) | 1029/1720 (59.8%) | RR 0.96 (0.92 to 1.01) | 24 fewer per 1000 (from 6 more to 48 fewer) | Moderate |
 ≥ 4 times | 16 trials | 882/1785 (49.4%) | 1002/1790 (56.0%) | RR 0.85 (0.75 to 0.96) | 84 fewer per 1000 (from 22 fewer to 140 fewer) | Low |
Number of women who stop exclusive breastfeeding before 4–6 weeks postpartum | ||||||
 < 4 times | 15 trials (16 comparisons) | 1178/1971 (59.8%) | 1036/1629 (63.6%) | RR 0.92 (0.88 to 0.97) | 51 fewer per 1000 (from 19 fewer to 76 fewer) | Moderate |
 ≥ 4 times | 19 trials (20 comparisons) | 1136/2366 (48.0%) | 1388/2140 (64.9%) | RR 0.69 (0.58 to 0.82) | 201 fewer per 1000 (from 117 fewer to 272 fewer) | Low |
Number of women who stop exclusive breastfeeding before 6 months postpartum | ||||||
 < 4 times | 12 trials (13 comparisons) | 1444/1682 (85.9%) | 1326/1471 (90.1%) | RR 0.96 (0.94 to 0.98) | 36 fewer per 1000 (from 18 fewer to 54 fewer) | Moderate |
 ≥ 4 times | 22 trials (23 comparisons) | 2369/3709 (63.9%) | 3077/3683 (83.5%) | RR 0.76 (0.66 to 0.88) | 201 fewer per 1000 (from 100 fewer to 284 fewer) | Low |
Number of infants fed with bottles during the first 6 months postpartum | ||||||
 < 4 times | 4 trials | 292/554 (52.7%) | 324/546 (59.3%) | RR 0.91 (0.82 to 1.01) | 53 fewer per 1000 (from 6 more to 107 fewer) | Moderate |
 ≥ 4 times | 1 trial | 111/175 (63.4%) | 144/175 (82.3%) | RR 0.77 (0.68 to 0.88) | 189 fewer per 1000 (from 99 fewer to 263 fewer) | High |