Factors Associated with Recurrent Infant Feeding Practices in Subsequent Births

Abstract

Infant feeding practices were strongly recurrent, highlighting the importance of successful breastfeeding for first-time mothers. Additional support for young mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds accounting for infant feeding history, experiences, and common barriers could improve recurrent exclusive breastfeeding and positively affect infant and maternal health.

Changes in breastfeeding initiation at hospital discharge between first and second births in Nova Scotia: a population-based cohort study

“…8 Both our study and that of Bentley and colleagues found that smoking, younger age, lower neighbourhood socioeconomic index, cesarean delivery and type of hospital were associated with greater likelihood of switching feeding practices from breastfeeding in the first birth to not breastfeeding in the second. 8 Similarities between the Nova Scotia and Australia populations were also seen among women who switched from noninitiation in the first birth to initiation in the second birth, where both smoking and cesarean delivery were associated with reduced likelihood of breastfeeding in the second birth. 8 However, our analysis focused on changes in exposure status across the 2 pregnancies, and included some variables that were not available in the New South Wales database (e.g., drug use, maternal BMI).…”

“…8 Similarities between the Nova Scotia and Australia populations were also seen among women who switched from noninitiation in the first birth to initiation in the second birth, where both smoking and cesarean delivery were associated with reduced likelihood of breastfeeding in the second birth. 8 However, our analysis focused on changes in exposure status across the 2 pregnancies, and included some variables that were not available in the New South Wales database (e.g., drug use, maternal BMI).…”

“…8 Phillips and colleagues extended their research to look at duration of exclusive breastfeeding across births and found that women tended to breastfeed for similar durations from one birth to another. 17 In addition to similarities regarding the rates of recurrent infant feeding across births, some of the factors we identified as being associated with changing feeding practices have been reported from other studies.…”

“…Some studies have investigated maternal and obstetric factors associated with breastfeeding across multiple pregnancies. 8,[16][17][18] Overall, the findings showed a decrease in breastfeeding rates among multiparous women compared with primiparous women, 17 and suggested that unsuccessful breastfeeding with the first child reduced initia-tion in subsequent births. Although most of these studies had large sample sizes, they did not look at the direction of change of the risk factors between the first and subsequent births…”

“…6 Numerous studies have been conducted to identify factors associated with breastfeeding initiation. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Factors found to be associated with breastfeeding initiation included increasing maternal age, 7 exclusive prenatal care by midwives, 7 continued support from professionals such as lactation consultants and peers, 9,10 sociodemographic factors such as higher levels of education, married or common-law status 17 and higher household incomes. 13 Factors associated with lower rates of breastfeeding initiation were multiple births, preterm birth, not attending antenatal classes, 6 having a high body mass index (BMI) 9,10 and being an adolescent parent.…”