Factors Associated with the Abandonment of Exclusive Breastfeeding before Three Months

Abstract

The commencement and maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding (EB) are dependent on several mother–infant factors. To analyse the prevalence of EB during four different periods and to analyse the factors that can affect its maintenance, we performed a prospective, observational, longitudinal study of 236 mothers and their child between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation and weighing more than 2.5 kg. Four interviews were conducted (T1: on discharge, T2: at 15 days, T3: at one month, T4: at three months). The results showed that EB decreased considerably at three months (69.5% vs. 47.46%). The factors that reduced the risk of abandonment were as following: having decided before giving birth that one wants to offer breastfeeding (T2: odds ratio (OR): 0.02, p = 0.001), T3 (OR: 0.04, p = 0.001) and T4 (OR: 0.07, p = 0.01)) and having previous experience with EB (T2 (OR: 0.36, p = 0.01), T3 (OR: 0.42 p = 0.02) and T4 (OR: 0.51, p = 0.03)). The factors that increased the risk of EB abandonment were offering feeding bottles in the hospital (T2 (OR: 11. 06, p = 0.001); T3 (OR: 5.51, p = 0.001) and T4 (OR: 4.43, p = 0.001)) and thinking that the infant is not satisfied (T2 (OR: 2.39, p = 0.01) and T3 (OR: 2.34, p = 0.01)). In conclusion, the abandonment of EB in the first three months is associated with sociodemographic and clinical variables and psychological factors such as insecurity and doubts of the mother during the process and the absence of a favourable close environment.

Exclusive Breastfeeding and Factors Influencing Its Abandonment During the 1st Month Postpartum Among Women From Semi-rural Communities in Southeast Mexico

“…Regarding the mothers' previous experience with EBF, this variable was significantly associated with EBF beyond 1 month. Maternal previous experience has also been shown to influence both the intention and the actual practice of BF in other populations (41)(42)(43)(44)(45). However, in our study, maternal previous experience was marginally associated with >1 m-EBF when the interaction of other early postpartum and breastfeeding factors was taken into account in the logistic regression models.…”

Is Early Initiation of Maternal Lactation a Significant Determinant for Continuing Exclusive Breastfeeding up to 6 Months?

“…The lack of a significant relationship does not imply that the relationship does not exist. It is possible that the abandonment was caused by social or environmental variables and/or support policies aimed at maintaining BF that affected the maintenance of BF in the long term to a greater extent [ 13 , 19 ]. However, we clearly and significantly observed a correlation between the LATCH score assessed before hospital discharge and the maintenance of MBF at 6 months, and this relationship was statistically independent from whether or not EIBF had occurred in the first hour of the newborn’s life.…”

Perceptions of Mothers about Support and Self-Efficacy in Breastfeeding: A Qualitative Study

“…Prestigious international organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) insist on the benefits of establishing exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and its complementary continuation for at least two years. Nevertheless, we have come across higher than desirable rates of abandonment [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”