High education and increased parity are associated with breast-feeding initiation and duration among Australian women

25Citations
Citations of this article
75Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Objective Breast-feeding is associated with positive maternal and infant health and development outcomes. To assist identifying women less likely to meet infant nutritional guidelines, we investigated the role of socio-economic position and parity on initiation of and sustaining breast-feeding for at least 6 months. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Australia. Subjects Parous women from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (born 1973-78), with self-reported reproductive and breast-feeding history (N 4777). Results While 89 % of women (83 % of infants) had ever breast-fed, only 60 % of infants were breast-fed for at least 6 months. Multiparous women were more likely to breast-feed their first child (~90 % v. ~71 % of primiparous women), and women who breast-fed their first child were more likely to breast-feed subsequent children. Women with a low education (adjusted OR (95 % CI): 2·09 (1·67, 2·62)) or a very low-educated parent (1·47 (1·16, 1·88)) had increased odds of not initiating breast-feeding with their first or subsequent children. While fewer women initiated breast-feeding with their youngest child, this was most pronounced among high-educated women. While ~60 % of women breast-fed their first, second and third child for at least 6 months, low-educated women (first child, adjusted OR (95 % CI): 2·19 (1·79, 2·68)) and women with a very low (1·82 (1·49, 2·22)) or low-educated parent (1·69 (1·33, 2·14)) had increased odds of not breast-feeding for at least 6 months. Conclusions A greater understanding of barriers to initiating and sustaining breast-feeding, some of which are socio-economic-specific, may assist in reducing inequalities in infant breast-feeding.

References Powered by Scopus

Optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding

790Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cohort Profile: The Australian longitudinal study on Women's Health

583Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Women’s health Australia: Recruitment for a national longitudinal cohort study

520Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Determinants of breastfeeding initiation among mothers in Sydney, Australia: Findings from a birth cohort study

53Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Perinatal risk factors for infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis: A meta-analysis

42Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Women's Empowerment and Determinants of Early Initiation of Breastfeeding: A Scoping Review

40Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Holowko, N., Jones, M., Koupil, I., Tooth, L., & Mishra, G. (2016). High education and increased parity are associated with breast-feeding initiation and duration among Australian women. Public Health Nutrition, 19(14), 2551–2561. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980016000367

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 22

56%

Researcher 8

21%

Professor / Associate Prof. 5

13%

Lecturer / Post doc 4

10%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Nursing and Health Professions 24

52%

Medicine and Dentistry 15

33%

Social Sciences 5

11%

Psychology 2

4%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free