Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2020
Date Accepted: Apr 12, 2021
Value of mobile health in improving breastfeeding outcomes among perinatal or postpartum women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
ABSTRACT
Background:
Breastfeeding is essential for maintaining the health of mothers and babies, but the global breastfeeding rate is low. Interventions based on mobile health (mhealth) may have the potential to facilitate the improvement of breastfeeding status.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to analyze the existing evidence to determine whether mhealth-based interventions can improve the status of breastfeeding.
Methods:
We systematically searched multiple electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library and Embase) to identify eligible studies published before October 29, 2020. Included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studying the influence of mhealth on breastfeeding. RevMan 5.3 was used to analyze the data.
Results:
A total of 17 RCTs with a total sample size of 4366 participates met the inclusion criteria. Compared with usual care, interventions based on mhealth can significantly increase the rate of postpartum exclusive breastfeeding rate (RR 3.03, 95% CI 2.12-4.33; P<0.00001), enhance breastfeeding self-efficacy (RR 7.74, 95% CI 2.76-12.71; P=0.002), and reduce health problems in infants (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.90; P=0.01. There was no significant difference between the intervention group and the usual care group in terms of participants' attitudes towards breastfeeding (RR 2.54, 95% CI -1.18-5.70; P=0.20) or initiation of breastfeeding within an hour of birth (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.55-2.90; P=0.59).
Conclusions:
Interventions based on mhealth can significantly increase the rate of postpartum exclusive breastfeeding, breastfeeding efficacy and reduce health problems in infants. Therefore, mhealth can be used to promote the health of pregnant mothers and infants.
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