Abstract:
Objectives: To investigate the incidence of early postpartum mastitis, the predisposing factors, the recovery period and the exclusive breastfeeding outcomes at the one month postpartum period. Materials and Methods: Singleton, postpartum women without complications and had at least 6 months of breastfeeding intent were recruited. Demographic data and the predisposing factors, the number of mastitis incidences, the recovery periods and exclusive breastfeeding rates were recorded and followed-up during a one month period. If mastitis was diagnosed, mothers were advised to breastfeed frequently, apply hot compresses and to express milk. Antibiotics were only used in suspected infective mastitis. At the one-month follow-up, the breastfeeding data was collected from the subjects' breastfeeding record forms and analyzed. Results: The data from 1,025 postpartum mothers were collected for analyses, 950 mothers without and 75 with mastitis. Non-infective and infective mastitis was found in 65.3% and 34.7% of all mastitis cases, respectively. Relative risks of mastitis for cesarean section deliveries, being overweight, delayed breastfeeding initiation of more than 6 hours and a previous history of mastitis were 2.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3-3.2), 1.6 (95%CI = 1.2-2.3), 2.2 ((95%CI =1.4-3.1), and 6.1 (95%CI = 2.1-18.0), respectively. Most mothers with mastitis had a one-week recovery period for non-infective (73.5%) and two-weeks of recovery for infective mastitis (69.2%). Relative risks of exclusive breastfeeding for mastitis was 0.5 (95%CI = 0.3-0.8). Conclusion: The incidence of early postpartum mastitis was 7.3%. Factors associated with milk stasis resulting from the delayed initiation of breastfeeding may be one cause of mastitis in early postpartum. Therefore, supporting early breastfeeding initiation practice could prove beneficial in the prevention of mastitis and improve breastfeeding outcomes. © 2022 Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. All rights reserved.