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Objective Studies outside of obstetrics suggest that patient–provider language concordance may impact the efficacy of educational interventions and overall patient satisfaction. Many pregnant patients who present to the hospital for delivery with initial plans to exclusively breastfeed ultimately leave the hospital supplementing with formula. We aim to examine the impact of language concordance between patients and their primary bedside nurse during the delivery hospitalization period on the relationship between intended and actual feeding practices for term newborns of primiparous patients at a single institution.

Study Design This is a single-center, prospective cohort of primiparous patients with term, singleton gestations admitted for delivery between February 2022 and January 2023. Participants completed a predelivery survey on arrival and a postpartum survey before hospital discharge. The primary outcome was the association between nurse–patient language concordance and postpartum exclusive breastfeeding. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the primary outcome, and p-values < 0.05 were considered significant.

Results Overall, 108 participants were surveyed, of which 84 (77.8%) noted language concordance with their primary nurse and 24 (22.2%) reported language discordance. The race/ethnicity, language spoken at home, reported plans to return to work, WIC (special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children) enrollment, and prenatal feeding plan variables revealed significant differences in reported language concordance. Following adjustment for patient-reported prenatal feeding plan, patients who reported language concordance with their primary nurse were significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed in the immediate postpartum period (adjusted odds ratio, 5.60; 95% confidence interval, 2.06–16.2).

Conclusion Patients who reported language concordance with their primary nurse were significantly more likely to breastfeed exclusively in the immediate postpartum period. These findings highlight that language concordance between patients and bedside health care providers may contribute to initiating and continuing exclusive breastfeeding during the peripartum period.

Key Points

Patients who reported language concordance with their primary nurse were more likely to breastfeed.

Patient–Provider language concordance may impact infant feeding decisions in the postpartum period.

More research is needed to further explore the impact of language concordance with other providers.

Keywords breastfeeding - postpartum - education - language concordance - disparities Publication History

Received: 31 March 2024

Accepted: 06 August 2024

Article published online:
29 August 2024

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