The Effect of a Woman's Significant Other on her Breasifeeding Decision

Abstract

The infant feeding preferences of significant others have been shown to influence a pregnant woman's breastfeeding decision. Many researchers and policy makers are calling for the inclusion of a woman's significant other in the counseling and education of pregnant women regarding breastfeeding. This study reports on the impact of the significant other's infant feeding preferences and beliefs on a woman's intention to breastfeed, her initiation and successful initiation (longer than seven days) of breastfeeding. "Significant other" was defined as the person whom the pregnant woman reported as the one whose opinion "mattered the most to her" regarding feeding her infant. A randomly selected sub-sample of 133 women and their significant others was chosen from a larger infant feeding study. This sub-sample was heterogeneous with respect to age, education, and marital status. The women were interviewed during their third trimester of pregnancy and again at 7-10 days postpartum. Their significant others (71 percent baby's father and 29 percent baby's maternal grandmother), were interviewed during the woman's third trimester of pregnancy. Results indicate that a woman's intention to breastfeed is strongly and positively affected by the significant other's infant feeding preferences, initiation of breastfeeding is mediated through intention to breastfeed, and successful initiation of breastfeeding is also mediated through intention and is uniquely dependent on the pregnant woman's self-efficacy.

The Relationships between Belief, Attitude, Subjective Norm, and Behavior Towards Infant Food Formula Selection: The Views of the Malaysian Mothers

“…Since most researches on consumer behavior were derived from western cultures (for instance, Manstead et al 1983;Kessler et al 1995;Kloeblen and Thompson 1999) and somewhat little work has been conducted on Malaysian consumers (for example Ramayah et al 2003;Ramayah et al 2003) which have been known to abide to the eastern culture where people value family and family ties (Mansor 1992), the findings from this study were able to reaffirm the generalizability of the TRA model across culture.…”

“…The result of the regression 1975; Budd et al 1983;Thompson et al 1994;Kessler et al 1995;Kloeblen and Thompson 1999). The beta weight for subjective norm was larger than attitude toward behavior implying that subjective norm would have a better predictive power in determining the choice decision on infant formula.…”

“…This study utilizes the TRA model (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) given the ability of the model to predict health-related behaviors such as breast-feeding as discovered by previous scholars (for instance, Manstead et al 1983, Kessler et al 1995, Kloeben and Thompson 1999. The conceptual framework is shown in Figure 1.…”

Predictors of Breastfeeding Intention in Malaysia

“…As supported by Kessler et al, women's intention to breastfeed is also strongly affected by the mother's significant other's infant feeding preferences which in turn may result in successful breastfeeding initiation (Kessler, Gielen, Diener-West, & Paige, 1995).…”

The Grandmother's Role in Breastfeeding

“…Esto puede deberse a la conclusión alcanzada de que las mujeres toman la decisión de dar LM o antes de estar embarazadas o en el primer trimestre, periodos en los que habitualmente el personal sanitario no les da mucha información al respecto. Esto está presente también en los resultados de Kessler et al (25) referidos, en este caso, a la intención de dar LM. La variable intención, íntimamente relacionada con la toma de decisión del patrón de alimentación, nuevamente parece influida por la simple opinión de la abuela, o que la madre haya sido amamantada, o la opinión de su pareja (24).…”