ArticlePloS one2023
Breastfeeding rates in England during the Covid-19 pandemic and the previous decade: Analysis of national surveys and routine data.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Peer support intervention (ABA-feed) to improve breastfeeding: UK based, multicentre, parallel group, randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Trial
- COVID-19 and Global Perinatal Health: Lessons Learned on Maternal-Neonatal Outcomes, Infant Feeding Practices, and Health Care Economics across Income Settings.American journal of perinatology · 2026Article
- Infant Formula Affordability Negatively Impacts Parental Wellbeing, Financial Security and Safe Feeding Practices in the UK.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Primiparity, older maternal age, COVID-19 pandemic, twin birth, and winter birth are associated with lower exclusive breastfeeding in Japanese mothers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cross-Sectional Associations Between Exposure to Commercial Milk Formula Marketing, Beliefs About Its Use, and Socioeconomic Position Among Pregnant Women and Mothers in the UK.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Breastfeeding rates in Israel and their health policy implications.Israel journal of health policy research · 2025Article
- Impact of Maternal Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 on Immunological Components of Breast Milk.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Breastfeeding support during the Covid-19 pandemic in England: analysis of a national survey.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Breastfeeding trajectories for preterm infants over the first 6 months of life in England 2010-2020: surveys using large representative birth samples.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Article
- Donation barriers, enablers, patterns and predictors of milk bank donors in the United States and United Kingdom.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- The Impact of Malnutrition on the Developing Lung and Long-Term Lung Health: A Narrative Review of Global Literature.Pulmonary therapy · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFew studies have compared breastfeeding rates before and during the pandemic using comparable data across time. We used data from two national maternity surveys (NMS) to compare breastfeeding rates in England before and during the pandemic.
methodsAnalysis was conducted using the NMS from 2018 (pre-pandemic; n = 4,509) and 2020 (during the pandemic; n = 4,611). The prevalence of breastfeeding initiation, and 'any' breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) at 6 weeks and 6 months were compared between these surveys. Data were interpreted in the context of underlying trends in these prevalences from previous NMS (from 2010 and 2014), and annual routine data for England (from 2009-10 to 2020-21). Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate adjusted risk ratios (aRR) for the effect of birth during the pandemic (2020 versus 2018) on breastfeeding, with adjustment for sociodemographic and birth-related factors.
resultsBreastfeeding initiation and any breastfeeding at 6 weeks remained relatively constant in the NMS and the routine data. Birth during the pandemic was associated with a 3 percentage point decrease in EBF at 6 weeks in the NMS (aRR 0.92, 95%CI: 0.87, 0.98 for pandemic versus pre-pandemic), but a smaller decrease in the routine data. Birth during the pandemic was associated with a 3 percentage point increase in any breastfeeding at 6 months in the NMS (aRR 1.05, 95%CI: 1.00, 1.10). Breastfeeding varied across different groups of women in the NMS (i.e. marked inequalities), but the small changes observed between the pandemic and pre-pandemic NMS were broadly similar across the sociodemographic and birth-related factors examined (i.e. no change in inequalities).
conclusionBreastfeeding initiation and any breastfeeding at 6 weeks in England were unaffected by the pandemic, and the persistent inequalities in breastfeeding did not widen. Services should aim to reduce these inequalities in breastfeeding which have been documented since the 1970s.
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