Lack Of Confidence A Barrier For Women In Underserved Populations.(breastfeeding )

2001 MAY 10 - (NewsRx Network) -- Most women in underserved populations do not continue breastfeeding after four months because they lack the confidence they will do so, and they think their infants prefer formula, a study by Yale University researchers shows.

Of the 64 women who participated in the study, 27% had discontinued breastfeeding after one week; 37% after two weeks; 70% after two months, and by four months, 89% of the mothers had stopped breastfeeding their infants.

All of the mothers were eligible for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, and most had already enrolled. WIC provides special supplemental foods, nutritional counseling, and breastfeeding support and education to low income women and their children, up to five years old.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding through the first year of life.

John Leventhal, MD, professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, is senior author of the study published in a recent issue of the journal Pediatrics. The principal investigator on the study was Ilgi Ertem, MD, who at the time was a developmental-behavioral fellow at Yale working with Leventhal.

Leventhal said the women who stopped breastfeeding did not do so because they lacked knowledge about breastfeeding or because they experienced difficulty doing so. "When asked about their confidence that they would continue breastfeeding until the infant was two months of age, almost half of the women ...