The Effectiveness of Community Health Worker Support Versus Standard Care on Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Background Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) during the first 6 months of life provides a lot of benefits for both mother and child. Community health worker (CHW) play an important role in gaining the good clinical signs in home‐based care. Objective This review focused on evaluating the effectiveness of CHW support intervention versus standard care on EBF duration in postpartum women. Methods The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines of reporting were followed for the searching of nine databases and one search engine and screening following eligibility criteria. The search was limited to articles published in English between January 2012 and October 2022. The index of this systematic review was EBF duration. The meta‐analysis has been conducted via SPSS Version 18. The JBI critical appraisal tool has been used. Results Of the 2279 articles screened from 10 databases. Sixty full texts were screened for eligibility, of which eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Most of studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The studies were published between 2012 and 2021. According to meta‐analysis, the statistical significance of the 6‐month EBF duration of CHW intervention has been found (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.05–2.61), with the high degree of heterogeneity ( I 2 = 0.96%). However, the 1‐month EBF duration was significantly different (OR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.13–3.63). Conclusion These findings highlight the effectiveness of CHW support in promoting longer EBF duration.