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The relationship between maternal smoking and breastfeeding duration after adjustment for maternal infant feeding intention
Author(s) -
Donath SM,
Amir LH
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2004.tb02639.x
Subject(s) - breastfeeding , medicine , pregnancy , odds ratio , obstetrics , breast feeding , cohort study , demography , odds , cohort , pediatrics , logistic regression , genetics , sociology , biology
Aim : To investigate whether maternal smoking remains associated with decreased breastfeeding duration after adjustment for the mother's infant feeding intention. Method : Pregnant women resident within Avon, UK, expected to give birth between 1 April 1991 and 31 December 1992 were recruited in a longitudinal cohort study. Main outcome measures included maternal infant feeding intention at 32 wk of pregnancy: intention for the first week, intention for the rest of the first month and intention in months 2 to 4. Maternal smoking was defined as any smoking reported at any time during pregnancy. Data on initiation and duration of breastfeeding were based on the questionnaire at 6 mo postpartum, supplemented by data from the 15‐mo questionnaire if necessary. Results : Women who smoked during pregnancy had an adjusted odds ratio of 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3–1.7) of not breastfeeding at 6 mo compared to non‐smokers (adjusting for maternal age, education and intention). Survival analysis of duration of breastfeeding in the first 6 mo postpartum found that women who intended to breastfeed for less than 1 mo were 78% more likely to stop at any given time than women planning to breastfeed for at least 4 mo, while smokers were 17% more likely to stop breastfeeding than non‐smokers. Conclusion : Although women who smoke are less likely to breastfeed their infants than are nonsmoking women, it appears that this is largely due to lower motivation to breastfeed rather than a physiological effect of smoking on their milk supply.