Social and psychiatric factors associated with the intention to breastfeed

Abstract

In a sample of 483 women interviewed in the last trimester of pregnancy, 3.3 per cent were doubtful about whether they would breastfeed and 17 per cent expressed a clear intention not to do so. Possible psychiatric and social factors associated with not wishing to breastfeed were examined and a number of important associations emerged. In particular, psychiatric morbidity, working-class status, a number of indices of economic hardship, being young, already having children, and lack of a stable relationship were all significantly associated with not wishing to breastfeed. When a log linear analysis was conducted three of these factors were found to be independently associated with not wishing to breastfeed: being young, already having children, and not having a stable relationship. These findings have implications for early intervention.