Promoting Sustained and Exclusive Breastfeeding among Chinese American Pregnant Women

Abstract

This study investigated prenatal goal setting and breastfeeding attitudes and intentions for 210 Chinese American pregnant women. In addition, this study assessed impact of person-centered versus factual messages on breastfeeding attitudes and intentions. While pregnant women reported receiving information about Baby-Friendly designated hospitals from healthcare providers, most received no breastfeeding information from those same providers. Although women had positive attitudes toward breastfeeding, they showed lack of knowledge about colostrum, general approval for using infant formula, as well as early introduction of complementary foods. By extension, these attitudes suggested they misunderstood the meaning of exclusive breastfeeding. No differences were observed based on parity, trimester of pregnancy, level of education or income. Person-centered and factual messages were judged as equally effective messages, but intention to breastfeed was more affected by the factual message. Reasons for this result are discussed. Healthcare providers are positioned to proactively engage in maternal preparedness for exclusive breastfeeding. These results suggested a missed opportunity for healthcare providers to communicate the value of sustained exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended first 6 months of an infant’s life and underscore a need for all antenatal healthcare providers to collaboratively ensure that breastfeeding information is comprehensively provided throughout the span of antenatal care.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the 210 pregnant Chinese American women who agreed to participate in this study. We are grateful for financial support for this project received from the MSU Trifecta initiative.

Declaration of Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report for this study with respect to the conduct of research, the authorship of the study and the publication of this manuscript.

Author information

Mary Bresnahan (Ph.D., 1985, University of Michigan) is a Beal Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. She conducts research on stigma and health and breastfeeding. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2483-394X

Joanne Goldbort (Ph.D., 2006, Indiana University) is an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing at Michigan State University. Her research interests lie in qualitative research and traumatic birth experiences; and breastfeeding issues. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7272-859X

Jie Zhuang (Ph.D., 2014, Michigan State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas Christian University. Her research interests lie in the intersection of health/risk communication and persuasion. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3332-2044

Elizabeth Bogdan-Lovis (M.A., 1995, Michigan State University) is Assistant Director in the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University. Her research examines notions of choice and shared decision making in patient-centered care. ORCID: https://0000-0002-7450-1022

Xiaodi Yan (M.A., 2017, Michigan State University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. She currently studies the impact of social norms on health behaviors. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0762-7300

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Trifecta, a competitive internal seed grant from the authors’ institution intended to foster interdisciplinary health research.