The Decision to Breastfeed

Abstract

One hundred fifteen postpartum mothers who were within 24 hours of delivery completed a questionnaire to determine factors which may influence a mother's intention to breastfeed and to evaluate specifically the effect of working outside of the home. In our population of mostly middle-class married and insured women, working outside of the home was not significantly related to the decision to breastfeed (67.9% of working mothers, compared to 67.2% of those who did not plan to work postpartum, planned to at least partially breastfeed). The only factors that significantly related to breastfeeding intention pertained to the father's level of education and to his approval of breastfeeding. Strong approval of breastfeeding by the father was associated with a high incidence of breastfeeding (98.1 %), compared to only 26.9% breastfeeding when the father was indifferent to feeding choice (P<0.001).