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Title: PREVALENCE OF INITIATION OF BREASTFEEDING IN SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

Author
item Zaghloul, Sahar
item MORRISEY, C - JEFFERSON REGIONAL MED CT
item FENDLEY, H - UAMS AREA HEALTH ED. CTR

Submitted to: Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2001
Publication Date: 8/1/2001
Citation: ZAGHLOUL, S., MORRISEY, C., FENDLEY, H.F. PREVALENCE OF INITIATION OF BREASTFEEDING IN SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. ANNALS OF NUTRITION AND METABOLISM. 2001. v. 45(Suppl.1). p. 445.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Data of 1260 deliveries performed at Jefferson Regional Medical Center (JRMC) were reviewed and analyzed for the following objectives 1) to obtain a baseline incidence of breastfeeding initiation based on 1997 hospital medical records, and 2) to assess significant factors associated with low rate of breast-feeding. A total of 226 mothers (18%) did exclusively breast-feed during their stay at JRMC, while 82% did bottle feed or mixed feed. Characteristics of the breastfeeding mothers included: being white (68.6%), attaining more than 12 years of education (54%), being married (73.8%), being WIC participants (41.6%), and attending birth classes (27.4%). In contrast, the characteristics of 1034 mothers who chose to bottle feed included: being predominately African Americans (65.6%), having < 12 years of education (64.5%), being married (37.7%) and WIC participants (64.54%). Multivariate analysis showed that these factors are significantly and independently associated with the low rate of breastfeeding; p value 0.01. More over, such significance has not changed after taking into consideration other possible confounders such as maternal medical problems, delivery vaginal/none, condition of newborn, risk factors for pregnancies and baby terms complications, irrespective of the number of prenatal visits. Nevertheless, statistical significance difference in mother's blood hemoglobin was detected between breastfeeding mothers and bottle-feeding mothers (11.9±1.2 mg/dl, 11.3±1.4 mg/dl respectively) and in the birth weight (3.4±0.5 kg; 3.2±0.9 kg respectively); P<0.01. In conclusion, the low rate of breastfeeding could not be explained by biological or medical causes, but might be explained by cultural and social barriers. Funded by USDA/1890 Capacity Building Grant.