There was evidence of a significant benefit
of discharging mothers and newborns within 48 hours after birth versus a later time of
discharge on continued breastfeeding at six weeks after birth. Pooled results from the six
RCTs (1–5,7) showed a significant 13% reduction in the risk of women not breastfeeding
at six weeks after birth if the mother was discharged within 48 hours after birth versus
later (RR=0.87, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.99). However, the only observational study (9) showed
no effect of time of discharge on stopping breastfeeding at six weeks of age (1.04, pooled
RR=0.94, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.18). The overall quality of evidence was graded as very low.