A retrospective cohort study of infant-feeding practices at 6 months of age was conducted for 382 breastfed infants in a semirural northern California county. The authors hypothesized that almost exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months would be related to maternal experiences in the hospital. Multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for maternal age and education, found that almost exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months was positively associated with receiving a telephone number for breastfeeding help from the hospital (odds ratio, 6.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-33.9), use of a breast pump in the first 6 months (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-4.76), and gestational age (odds ratio, 2.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-4.71 for a 4-week age difference), whereas formula supplementation at the hospital had a negative association (odds ratio, 0.27; 95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.56). Making postpartum breastfeeding support easily accessible and offering breast pumps at low or no cost may help to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates in this county. J Hum Lact . 26(3):274-285.
Wolf JHLow breastfeeding rates and public health in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2003;93:2000-2010.
2.
Ryan ASThe resurgence of breastfeeding in the United States. Pediatrics . 1997;99:e12.
3.
Grummer-Strawn L., Scanlon KS, Darling N., Conrey EJRacial and socioeconomic disparities in breastfeeding: United States, 2004. MMWR Morb Mort Wkly Rep. 2006;55:335-339.
4.
Beck LF, Morrow B., Lipscomb LE, et al. Prevalence of selected maternal behaviors and experiences, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), 1999. MMWR Morb Mort Wkly Rep. 2002;51:1-26.
5.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breastfeeding Among U.S. Children Born 1999-2005: CDC National Immunization Survey. Atlanta, Ga: Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/NIS_data/index.htm . Accessed June 23, 2009.
6.
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.Breastfeeding Practices. Los Angeles , Calif: Los Angeles County Department of Health Services ; 2004.
7.
Horta BL, Bahl R., Martines JC, Victora CGEvidence on the Long-term Effects of Breastfeeding. Geneva , Switzerland: World Health Organization, Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development; 2007.
8.
American Academy of Pediatrics.Policy statement: breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. 2005;115:496-506.
9.
Heinig MJHost defense benefits of breastfeeding for the infant: effect of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2001;48:105-123.
10.
Chantry CJ, Howard CR, Auinger P.Full breastfeeding duration and associated decrease in respiratory tract infection in US children. Pediatrics. 2006;117:425-432.
11.
Hanson LAHuman milk and host defence: immediate and long-term effects. Acta Paediatr Suppl. 1999;88:42-46.
12.
Harder T., Bergmann R., Kallischnigg G., Plagemann A.Duration of breastfeeding and risk of overweight: a meta-analysis . Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162:397-403.
13.
Gillman MW, Rifas-Shiman SL, Camargo CA Jr, et al. Risk of overweight among adolescents who were breastfed as infants . JAMA. 2001;285:2461-2467.
14.
Owen CG, Martin RM, Whincup PH, Smith GD, Cook DGDoes breastfeeding influence risk of type 2 diabetes in later life? A quantitative analysis of published evidence. Am J Clin Nutr . 2006;84: 1043-1054.
15.
Woo JG, Dolan LM, Morrow AL, Geraghty SR, Goodman E.Breastfeeding helps explain racial and socioeconomic disparities in adolescent adiposity. Pediatrics. 2008;121:e458-e465.
16.
Grummer-Strawn LM, Mei Z.Does breastfeeding protect against pediatric overweight? Analysis of longitudinal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System. Pediatrics . 2004;113:81-86.
17.
McVea KL , Turner PD, Peppler DKThe role of breastfeeding in sudden infant death syndrome. J Hum Lact. 2000;16:13-20.
18.
Chen A., Rogan WJBreastfeeding and the risk of postneonatal death in the United States . Pediatrics. 2004;113:e435-e439.
19.
World Health Organization/United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.Protecting, Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding: The Special Role of Maternity Services. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization Press; 1989.
20.
California Department of Public Health.California In-hospital Breastfeeding as Indicated on the Newborn Screening Test Form. Statewide, County and Hospital of Occurrence by Infant Race/ Ethnicity: 2006 . Sacramento, Calif: Epidemiology & Evaluation Section, Maternal Child and Adolescent Health, Office of Family Planning Branch; 2006. Available at: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/data/statistics/Pages/BreastfeedingStatistics.aspx . Accessed June 23, 2009.
21.
Labbok M. , Krasovec K.Toward consistency in breastfeeding definitions . Stud Fam Plann. 1990;21:226-230.
22.
Agresti A.Building and applying logistic regression models. In: Categorical Data Analysis. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley; 2002:211-266.
National Center for Health Statistics.Health: United States, 2006. Hyattsville, Md: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics; 2006 .
25.
Merten S., Dratva J., Ackermann-Liebrich U.Do baby-friendly hospitals influence breastfeeding duration on a national level? Pediatrics. 2006;116:702-708.
26.
Pincombe J. , Baghurst P., Antoniou G., Peat B., Henderson A., Reddin E.Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative practices and breastfeeding duration in a cohort of first-time mothers in Adelaide, Australia. Midwifery. 2008;24:55-61.
27.
Dewey KG, Nommsen-Rivers LA, Heinig MJ, Cohen RJRisk factors for suboptimal infant breastfeeding behavior, delayed onset of lactation, and excess neonatal weight loss. Pediatrics . 1997;112:607-619.
28.
Blomquist HK , Jonsbo F., Serenius F., Persson LASupplementary feeding in the maternity ward shortens the duration of breastfeeding. Acta Paediatr. 1994;83:1122-1126.
29.
Howard CR, Howard FM, Lanphear B., et al. Randomized clinical trial of pacifier use and bottle-feeding or cupfeeding and their effect on breastfeeding. Pediatrics . 2003;111:511-518.
30.
Scott JA, Binns CW, Oddy WH, Graham KIPredictors of breastfeeding duration: evidence from a cohort study . Pediatrics. 2006;117: e646-e655.
31.
Alikasifoglu M., Erginoz E., Gur ET, Baltas Z., Beker B., Arvas A.Factors influencing the duration of exclusive breastfeeding in a group of Turkish women. J Hum Lact. 2001;17:220-226.
32.
DiGirolamo AM, Grummer-Strawn LM, Fein SBEffect of maternity-care practices on breastfeeding. Pediatrics. 2008 ;122:S43-S49.
33.
Calderia AP , Goncalves E.Assessment of the impact of implementing the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2007;83: 127-132.
34.
Duyan Camurdan A., Ozkan S., Yuksel D., Pasli F., Sahin F., Beyazova U.The effect of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative on long-term breast feeding. Int J Clin Pract. 2007;61:1251-1255.
35.
Broadfoot M. , Britten J., Tappin DM, Mackenzie JMThe Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative and breast feeding rates in Scotland. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2005;90:F114-F116.
36.
Tender JA, Janakiram J., Arce E., et al. Reasons for in-hospital formula supplementation of breastfed infants from low-income families. J Hum Lact. 2009;25:11-17.
37.
Ekstrom A., Widstrom AM, Nissen E.Duration of breastfeeding in Swedish primiparous and multiparous women . J Hum Lact. 2003;19: 172-178.
38.
Morton JAStrategies to support extended breastfeeding of the premature infant . Adv Neonatal Care. 2002;2:267-282.
39.
Donath SM, Amir LHEffect of gestation on initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2008;93:F448-F450.
40.
Callen J., Pinelli J.A review of the literature examining the benefits and challenges, incidence and duration, and barriers to breastfeeding in preterm infants. Adv Neonatal Care. 2005;5:72-88.
41.
Stanton D.Should extremely low birthweight premature infants be breastfed exclusively? Pro. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2007;32:8.
42.
Dall’Oglio I., Salvatori G., Bonci E., Nantini B., D’Agostino G., Dotta A.Breastfeeding promotion in neonatal intensive care unit: impact of a new program toward a BFHI for high-risk infants. Acta Paediatr . 2007;96:1626-1631.
43.
Merewood A. , Philipp BL, Chawla N., Cimo S.The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative increases breastfeeding rates in a US neonatal intensive care unit. J Hum Lact. 2003;19:166-171.
44.
Colaizy TT, Morriss FHPositive effect of NICU admission on breastfeeding of preterm US infants in 2000 to 2003. J Perinatol. 2008;28:505-510.
45.
Cakmak H., Kuguoglu S.Comparison of breastfeeding patterns of mothers who delivered their babies per vagina and via cesarean section: an observational study using the LATCH breastfeeding charting system. Int J Nurs Stud. 2007;44:1128-1137.
46.
Chapman DJ, Young S., Ferris AM, Pérez-Escamilla R.Impact of breast pumping on lactogenesis stage II after cesarean delivery: a randomized clinical trial. Pediatrics. 2001 ;107:e94.
47.
Gibson-Davis CM, Brooks-Gunn J.Couples’ immigration status and ethnicity as determinants of breastfeeding. Am J Public Health. 2006;96: 641-646.
48.
Singh GK, Kogan MD, Dee DLNativity/immigrant status, race/ ethnicity, and socioeconomic determinants of breastfeeding initiation and duration in the United States, 2003. Pediatrics. 2007;119: S38-S46.
49.
Hurley KM, Black MM, Papas MA, Quigg AMVariation in breastfeeding behaviours, perceptions, and experiences by race/ethnicity among a low-income statewide sample of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants in the United States. Matern Child Nutr. 2008;4:95-105.
50.
Bunik M., Clark L., Zimmer LM, et al. Early infant feeding decisions in low-income Latinas. Breastfeed Med. 2006;1:225-235.
51.
Li R., Scanlon KS, Serdula MKThe validity and reliability of maternal recall of breastfeeding practice . Nutr Rev. 2005;63:103-110.
52.
Gillespie B. , d’Arcy H., Schwartz K., et al. Recall of age of weaning and other breastfeeding variables. Int Breastfeed J. 2006;1:4.
