Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 520 mothers (vaginal delivery and a cesarean section with spinal anesthesia) in five baby-friendly hospitals in Sari. The content validity of the applied form for data collection was confirmed by relevant studies and its reliability was determined based on the data of 20 individuals and the determination of Spearman"s correlation coefficient. Finally, SPSS 24 was used for statistical analysis.

Results: The early breastfeeding in the first hour after birth was performed in 369 cases (71%), and the contributing factors were the literacy level over diploma (P = 0.0001), normal vaginal delivery (P = 0.0001), term status (P = 0.0001), maternal age over 20 years (P = 0.0001), higher birth order (P = 0.009), normal birth weight (P = 0.0001), singleton birth (P = 0.0001), non-federal hospital (P = 0.0001), healthy neonates (P = 0.0001), and healthy mothers (P = 0.0001). The chance of breastfeeding during the first hour after birth was 73% less in cases with a cesarean section, and in neonates born in private hospitals, this chance was 5.89 times the infants born in educational government hospitals.

Conclusions: About two-thirds of mothers fed their babies in the first hour after birth in the baby-friendly hospitals of Sari. It is important to evaluate the causes of delayed breastfeeding after birth in future studies, careful planning, and continuous monitoring of this important issue.