Impact and feasibility of breast crawl in a tertiary care hospital

To determine the impact of breast crawl on breast feeding and its feasibility and acceptability in a busy labor room. A prospective, single blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial. Impact of breast crawl was studied in one group and the outcome was compared with the other group where breast crawl was not performed. Feasibility and acceptability was determined by analysis of questionnaire given to obstetricians and nurses. Descriptive statistics and χ2-analysis was applied to evaluate the questionnaire and to compare the outcome in the two groups. Breast crawl had a significant positive impact on the onset of lactation (P=0.0005) as well as extent of neonatal weight loss on day 3 (0.032). Our study adds to the body of evidence that breast crawl results in positive short-term breast feeding outcome but acceptability of breast crawl as a routine in a busy labor room remains a major issue.