INTRODUCTION Breastfeeding causes health benefits to mothers and babies, and reduces health care costs. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently recommended breastfeeding for at least 12 months. The major barriers to long-term breastfeeding occur when mothers seek to return to work or school. There is little information about breastfeeding in this period.
METHODS Oregon PRAMS surveys a stratified random sample of mothers after a live birth. Over 99% of responses occur after the baby is 10 weeks old. Mothers are asked whether they initiated breastfeeding and how long they breastfed. Our data is from 12 consecutive survey months (11/99-10/98).
RESULTS 1867 women responded; the response rate was 64.5%. 83.6% of Oregon women initiated breastfeeding, while only 59.5% of Oregon women were still breastfeeding by the time the baby was 10 weeks old. In a multivariate model, the women least likely to be breastfeeding at 10 weeks postpartum were unmarried, less than 20 years old, with an unintended pregnancy, who smoked during pregnancy.
DISCUSSION The major barriers to breastfeeding for 12 months are related to return to work or school. 28.9% of women who initiated breastfeeding stopped breastfeeding before the baby was 10 weeks old. Programs for breastfeeding initiation and continuation can be targeted unmarried teen women, particularly to support them when they seek to return to school or work. There is a need for pilot interventions to support young women who wish to continue to breastfeed after they have returned to school or work.
Learning Objectives: 1. Learn about the use of a stratified random sampling to explore breastfeeding. 2. Learn the which women (in Oregon) are least likely to be breastfeeding when their baby is 10 weeks old. 3. Learn about the barriers to long-term breastfeeding.
Keywords: Breast Feeding, Surveillance
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