Reasons of hypogalactia and bottle-feeding of babies in Chelyabinsk - the industrial center of South Ural

Aim. The aim of our research was to identify the most significant reasons of hypogalactia in women and bottle-feeding of babies in Chelyabinsk, according to the analysis of a range of public health factors. Materials and Methods. The random sample including 335 outpatient medical records of infants and 218 specially designed questionnaires filled by infants' mothers (respondents) were analyzed to specify the data absent in medical documents. All families lived in different districts of Chelyabinsk - the megalopolis with atmosphere and soil persistently polluted with salts of heavy metals. We assessed the influence of several social-economic and medical-biological factors on reasons of bottle feeding and hypogalactia. Results. Factors strongly associated with hypogalactia developed in women included single-parent family and tobacco smoking, preceding abortions, late breastfeeding, and in vitro fertilization. The main reasons why women preferred bottle feeding were hypogalactia, nursing strike, and mother's unwillingness to breast-feed. Conclusion. Most respondents (47.7 %) report the small amount of breast milk as a reason for bottle feeding. The alarming fact is that 5.8 % of babies are bottle-fed because their mothers do not want to breast-feed, and in 4.1 % of cases mothers are unable to breast-feed. In our opinion, to some extent this may be associated with insufficient health communication to pregnant women in women's health clinics and children's hospitals where babies are followed up after having been discharged from the maternity hospital.