The impact of immigration on the breastfeeding practices of Mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong

Yang

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: Breastfeeding is a well-established and recommended intervention for better development of infants. In China, less than one third of infants under 6 months of age are being exclusively breastfed. Maternal rural-to-urban migration contributes to these low rates of breastfeeding practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of breastfeeding practices and associated factors among rural-to-urban migrant children and local children with infants aged 0-12 months in China, 2018.Methods: Data were collected from a population-based cross-sectional survey in 2018 that included 6995 infants from 8 urban areas (4 metropolis and 4 medium sized/small cities) in China with available measures of breastfeeding. The prevalence of breastfeeding practices was calculated by maternal migrant status and logistic regression was conducted to examine the association between the prevalence of breastfeeding practices and maternal migrant status, after adjusting for social-demographic characteristics, mother-infant health information and supportive information. For exclusive breastfeeding, we calculated the prevalence and its association with maternal rural-to-urban migration, stratified by maternal education level, maternal resident place and maternal ethnicity, respectively. Results: The overall prevalence of ever breastfeeding, predominant breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and age-appropriate breastfeeding (exclusive breastfeeding of infants under 6 months of age and complementary feeding from 6 to 12 months of age) was 97.51%, 29.84%, 59.89% and 45.07%, respectively. Rural-to-urban migrant children were less likely to be exclusively breastfed compared to local children (AOR=0.81, 95% CI 0.68, 0.95). Stratified by different social-demographic variables, a negative association between exclusive breastfeeding and rural-to-urban migration was only found in the group with high education level, in the group living in metropolis and in the group of minorities, respectively. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of breastfeeding practices was low in both rural-to-urban migrant children and local children. Besides common strategies, special approaches should be provided for migrants with high education, living in metropolis and being minorities.

Section: Association Between Breastfeeding Practices and Rural-to-urbmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Association Between Breastfeeding Practices and Rural-to-urbmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

What is the impact of rural-to-urban migration on exclusive breastfeeding: a population-based cross-sectional study

Yin

Yang

et al. 2020

Preprint

“…Thus, policies ensuring paternity leave might be considered. Studies have reported that husbands' positive attitudes and support are associated with longer breastfeeding duration [52,53]. In our study, husbands were recommended to keep positive attitudes towards exclusive breastfeeding, and actively encourage and cooperate with mothers during lactation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

How to promote exclusive breastfeeding in Ireland: a qualitative study on views of Chinese immigrant mothers

Zhou

Cassidy

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background The exclusive breastfeeding rate in Ireland is very low with extremely slow annual growth. The population of immigrants in Ireland is increasing. Improving exclusive breastfeeding practice among immigrants may contribute to the overall improvement of exclusive breastfeeding rates in Ireland. This study was conducted to elicit recommendations on improving exclusive breastfeeding rate for six months among Chinese immigrants in Ireland. Methods Fourteen semi-structured in-depth individual interviews were conducted with Chinese immigrant mothers resident in Ireland, who breastfed exclusively for four to six months. Results Themes generated from thematic content analyses were 1) recommendation for mothers: improve self-intention to breastfeed exclusively and self-efficacy, be financially secure before pregnancy, and obtain breastfeeding information proactively. 2) Recommendation for family members, employers and colleagues, and health care professionals: family members should offer sufficient support. Employers should provide hygienic places for breastmilk storage, and set up breastfeeding rooms and nurseries. Irish hospitals need to advocate exclusive breastfeeding, recruit and train multilingual health care professionals, and combine breastfeeding knowledge with practice in the prenatal education. 3) Recommendation for the government: set up breastfeeding rooms and dedicated rooms for breastfeeding groups, and increase the publicity and visibility of breastfeeding in multiple languages. An independent welfare policy for immigrants was also recommended. Conclusions The key findings emerging from this study may be considered in the development of breastfeeding promotion strategies in Ireland. Our findings could also have implications for other English-speaking countries with low rates of exclusive breastfeeding.

“…The husband having to work contributed to the lack of involvement or support of Chinese-Irish family. Studies have reported that husbands' positive attitudes and support are associated with longer breastfeeding duration [50,51]. In our study, husbands were recommended to have positive attitudes towards exclusive breastfeeding, and actively encourage and cooperate with mothers during lactation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

How to promote exclusive breastfeeding in Ireland: a qualitative study on views of Chinese immigrant mothers

Zhou

Cassidy

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: The exclusive breastfeeding rate in Ireland is very low with extremely slow annual growth. The population of immigrants in Ireland is increasing. Improving exclusive breastfeeding practice among immigrants may contribute to the overall improvement of exclusive breastfeeding rates in Ireland. This study was conducted to elicit recommendations on improving exclusive breastfeeding rate for six months among Chinese immigrants in Ireland.Methods: Fourteen semi-structured in-depth individual interviews were conducted with Chinese immigrant mothers resident in Ireland, who breastfed exclusively for four to six months.Results: Themes generated from thematic content analyses were 1) recommendation for mothers: improve self-intention to breastfeed exclusively and self-efficacy, be financially secure before pregnancy, and obtain breastfeeding information proactively. 2) Recommendation for family members, employers and colleagues, and health care professionals: family members should offer sufficient support. Employers should provide hygienic places for breastmilk storage, and set up breastfeeding rooms and nurseries. Irish hospitals need to advocate exclusive breastfeeding, recruit and train multilingual health care professionals, and combine breastfeeding knowledge with practice in the prenatal education. 3) Recommendation for the government: set up breastfeeding rooms and dedicated rooms for breastfeeding groups, and increase the publicity and visibility of breastfeeding in multiple languages. An independent welfare policy for immigrants was also recommended.Conclusions: The key findings emerging from this study may be considered in the development of breastfeeding promotion strategies in Ireland. Our findings could also have implications for other English-speaking countries with low rates of exclusive breastfeeding.