Characteristics of mothers and babies participating in the randomised control trial of proactive and reactive compared with reactive-only telephone support for breast feeding
| Proactive calls (n=35) | Reactive-only calls (n=34) | Eligible but not randomised (SIMD 1–3 and breast milk in previous 24 h) (n=44) | |
| Maternal age (years) | |||
| Mean (SD) | 28.7 (5.0) | 27.5 (4.2) | 29.6 (6.3) |
| Median (IQR) | 30 (25–33) | 29 (24–30) | 29 (26–33) |
| Deprivation (SIMD—2009) | |||
| SIMD 1, n (%) | 10 (29) | 3 (8) | 14 (32) |
| SIMD 2, n (%) | 13 (37) | 14 (41) | 13 (30) |
| SIMD 3, n (%) | 12 (34) | 17 (50) | 17 (39) |
| Multiple births, n (%) | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) |
| Type of delivery, n (%) | |||
| Spontaneous vaginal delivery | 18 (51) | 16 (47) | 22 (52) |
| Forceps or ventouse | 6 (17) | 8 (23) | 5 (12) |
| Emergency caesarean | 7 (20) | 5 (15) | 7 (17) |
| Elective caesarean | 4 (11) | 5 (15) | 8 (19) |
| Gestational age (weeks + days) | |||
| Mean (SD) | 38 w6 d (2 w1 d) | 39 w (2 w1 d) | 38 w4 d (2 w3 d) |
| Median (IQR) | 39 (38–40) | 39 (38–40) | 39 (38–40) |
| Admitted to neonatal unit, n (%) | 6 (17) | 7 (21) | 7 (18) |
| Primigravida, n (%) | 21 (60) | 22 (65) | 13 (30) |
| Length of hospital stay after birth (days) | |||
| Mean (SD) | 2.9 (2.6) | 2.5 (2.1) | 2.4 (2.3) |
| Median (IQR) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) |
| Feeding method at hospital discharge, n (%) | |||
| Any breast milk | 35 (100) | 34 (100) | 44 (100) |
| Exclusive breast milk | 26 (74) | 25 (74) | 33 (75) |
| Entire breastfeed watched, n (%) | |||
| Yes | 13 (37) | 15 (44) | 12 (27) |
| No | 11 (31) | 8 (24) | 19 (43) |
| Not applicable* | 3 (9) | 2 (6) | 5 (11) |
| Missing | 8 (23) | 9 (26) | 8 (18) |
↵* Not applicable refers to babies who were given exclusively breast milk only or were in the neonatal special care unit.