Breastfeeding behaviours

Breastfeeding of babies is significant in the prevention of disease in their later life, particularly where breastfeeding is exclusive and lasts for at least six months. It is therefore important to understand the factors that influence the duration of breastfeeding, particularly amongst our Māori population where the duration of breastfeeding is shorter than for non-Māori.

Professor Sally Baddock and fellow researchers have built on their earlier research into safe infant sleep, examining the factors that positively and negatively affect the duration of breastfeeding. 197 mothers agreed to participate in the study, which began before they gave birth to their babies, with 88% still involved 12 months after the births. They were asked questions related to breastfeeding during pregnancy, and at one, three and six months postnatal.

This research identified that the key predictors for extending duration of breastfeeding were strong support from the woman's partner and her mother, intention to breastfeed for longer, and the woman being older than 25 years of age. Antenatal and postnatal education about breastfeeding that includes the women's mothers and partners may therefore be beneficial to duration of breastfeeding and hence to the babies. There were also negative predictors: pacifier/dummy use, daily cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and living in a more deprived area. Only 18.7% of the mothers surveyed were still exclusively breastfeeding at three months. The study confirmed that Māori women were more likely to breastfeed for a shorter duration than non-Māori women.

Sally spoke about her research at her inaugural professorial event on Wednesday 6 March at the Hub, Otago Polytechnic, Forth Street, Dunedin.