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Maternal indicators and reported causes of perceived insufficient milk supply among a sample of Chinese mothers
Author(s) -
Lou Zixin,
Zeng Guo,
Huang Lujiao,
Wang Yu,
Zhou Lan,
Kavanagh Katherine
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.122.4
Subject(s) - breastfeeding , medicine , psychological intervention , breast milk , feeling , china , breast feeding , environmental health , demography , family medicine , pediatrics , nursing , psychology , social psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , sociology , political science , law
Though breastfeeding initiation is high in China, exclusivity is rare. The study objective was to explore perceived indicators and causes of perceived insufficient milk (PIM) supply among Chinese mothers. A convenience sample, consisting of 392 mothers of healthy infants (<12 months of age), completed a questionnaire in a Maternal and Child Hospital in Chengdu, China. Three hundred and forty one surveys were considered eligible for analysis. Breastfeeding initiation (defined as ever offering the breast) was high (95.3%). However, 54.2% of mothers reported experiencing PIM, with 43.9% of these mothers reporting PIM occurring within 2 days postpartum. Primary maternal indicators of PIM were not feeling the presence of milk in the breast (36.9%), perceived lack of infant satiation after feeding (33.5%), and perceived post‐nursing infant fussiness (27.8%). Over one third of mothers reported not knowing what caused PIM (34.4%), 21.1% believed PIM to be caused by poor maternal appetite, and 13.1% believed a lack of maternal liquid intake to be the cause. PIM appears to be common among Chinese mothers, especially in the early post‐partum period, and it appears that mothers are using subjective indicators to reach this conclusion. Prenatal and early post‐partum interventions, assisting mothers to correctly assess milk supply, may result in improved exclusive breastfeeding rates in China. Grant Funding Source : The University of Tennessee, Department of Nutrition, the Office of the Dean, and the Office of Research (SARIF Award)