Factors of a Mother’s Postnatal Decision about Infant Feeding and the Sustainability of Breastfeeding

Abstract

Objective: The benefits of breastfeeding to both infants and mothers are widely recognised. Nonetheless, about one third of mothers have stopped breastfeeding upon discharge from our hospital despite the fact that they elected to breastfeed before delivery. This study aimed to examine factors affecting mothers’ postnatal decision about infant feeding and sustainability of breastfeeding.
Methods: This was a prospective study using a questionnaire to collect the subjective information from all mothers who were Chinese and who delivered in our hospital from March to April 2015. As maternal factors alone can only partially predict a mother’s decision to breastfeed, a thorough exploration of other variables was also performed.
Results: Analysis of the 172 questionnaires returned revealed that maternal intention to breastfeed correlated with initiation of skin-to-skin contact in the labour ward (odds ratio=2.1, 95% confidence interval, 0.97-4.60; p=0.046) and the presence of the husband during labour (odds ratio=2.3, 95% confidence interval, 0.97-5.51; p=0.048).
Conclusion: Skin-to-skin contact and presence of the husband during labour should be promoted and advocated. These factors are also important for us to develop promotional policies and provide effective counselling in order to improve the breastfeeding rate and sustain a longer duration of breastfeeding.