Lau Ying
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Title: Breastfeeding intention, initiation and duration among Hong Kong Chinese women: A prospective longitudinal study
Biography
Biography: Lau Ying
Abstract
Objectives of this study are to: estimate the breastfeeding intention, initiation and duration rate; identify the reasons to initiate; and wean breastfeeding and explore predictors of breastfeeding duration. A prospective longitudinal study was used at antenatal clinics of five regional hospitals from four clusters in Hong Kong. A population-based sample of 2098 women in the second trimester of pregnancy was recruited with a systematic sampling method. Three different sets of questionnaires were used. The rates of formula feeding and breastfeeding were 41.1% and 58.9%, while breastfeeding intention and initiation rates were 85.3% and 67.0%, respectively. The breastfeeding duration rates were 11.1%, 10.3%, 10.7% and 26.7%, for the “within < 1week”, “1-3 weeks”, “> 3-6 weeks” and “> 6 weeks” groups. The common reasons for initiating breastfeeding were that breastfeeding is beneficial for both the baby (89.8%) and mother (39.7%). Reasons for weaning breastfeeding were insufficient breast milk (32.7%), tiredness and fatigue (39.7%) and return to work (29.6%). Partner, relatives and nurse midwives were important supportive resources during breastfeeding. Ordinal logistic regression analysis identified five predictive factors of breastfeeding duration. Participants who were working part-time or were housewives (p=0.037), had monthly family income of < HK$10,000 (p=0.034), more than one child (p=0.001), positive breastfeeding intention (p=0.001) and early breastfeeding within the first hour (p<0.0001) were more likely to have longer breastfeeding than their counterparts. The findings are important for a process-oriented breastfeeding training programme for nurse midwives