Risk factors for exclusive breastfeeding lasting less than two months—Identifying women in need of targeted breastfeeding support

Abstract

BackgroundBreastfeeding rates in Sweden are declining, and it is important to identify women at risk for early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding lasting less than two months postpartum.MethodsA population-based longitudinal study was conducted at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. Six hundred and seventy-nine women were included in this sub-study. Questionnaires were sent at five days, six weeks and six months postpartum, including questions on breastfeeding initiation and duration as well as several other background variables. The main outcome measure was exclusive breastfeeding lasting less than two months postpartum. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used in order to calculate adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI).ResultsSeventy-seven percent of the women reported exclusive breastfeeding at two months postpartum. The following variables in the multivariate regression analysis were independently associated with exclusive breastfeeding lasting less than two months postpartum: being a first time mother (AOR 2.15, 95% CI 1.32–3.49), reporting emotional distress during pregnancy (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.35–3.62) and giving birth by cesarean section (AOR 2.63, 95% CI 1.34–5.17).ConclusionsFactors associated with shorter exclusive breastfeeding duration were determined. Identification of women experiencing emotional distress during pregnancy, as well as scrutiny of caregiving routines on cesarean section need to be addressed, in order to give individual targeted breastfeeding support and promote longer breastfeeding duration.

Longer shared parental leave is associated with longer duration of breastfeeding: a cross-sectional study among Swedish mothers and their partners

“…In addition, high maternal education level was positively associated with the duration of partial breastfeeding. This reaffirms previous research findings that mothers with high level of education and mothers with previous children are more likely to breastfeed [10,35]. Previous breastfeeding experience improves the ability to breastfeed, and parents with high level of education might have more flexibility regarding use of parental leave days, especially during the child's second year [36].…”

“…Consequently, the duration of time that mother's breastfed exclusively in this study was significantly lower than the recommendation of 6 months by WHO. The reasons for this might be multifactorial [10,11,27,33]. Certain changes in Sweden in recent decades may have affected mothers who want to breastfeed and contributed to less incidences of breastfeeding.…”

“…Several factors are associated with shorter period of breastfeeding, for instance, being a first-time mother, emotional distress during pregnancy, separation between infant and mother and giving birth by caesarean section [10][11][12]. There are also differences in the duration of breastfeeding due to sociodemographic factors such as age and socioeconomic status [13].…”

Characteristics of women with different perinatal depression trajectories

“…Depression in the perinatal period is associated with retained maternal weight postpartum (Herring et al, ; Pedersen et al, ) as well as with decreased initiation and shorter duration of breastfeeding (Cato, Sylven, Lindback, Skalkidou, & Rubertsson, ; Dennis & McQueen, ; Figueiredo, Canário, & Field, ). The first few postpartum years are also a period of particularly high risk for maternal sick leave (AFA Insurance, ; Sandmark, ).…”

Factores de riesgo y barreras de implementación de la lactancia materna: revisión de literatura

“…En la práctica actual, varios autores reportan algunos factores de riesgo y barreras para la una óptima lactancia materna, como son los determinantes multifactoriales, directivas legales y normativas, actitudes y valores sociales, condiciones laborales y servicios de atención médica para permitir que las mujeres amamanten 27 , así como factores analizados desde perspectivas biculturales 28 , y la gestión de rutinas de cuidado durante la cesárea, a fin de brindar apoyo específico a la lactancia materna y promover una mayor duración de la lactancia 29 .…”