Prenatal and perinatal factors associated with breast-feeding initiation among inner-city Puerto Rican women.
OBJECTIVE
To identify factors associated with the initiation of breast-feeding in a predominantly Puerto Rican population living in inner-city Hartford, Conn.


METHODS
Retrospective study of 144 Latino women (mean +/- standard deviation age = 26.3 +/- 5.7 years) with children at least 1 year old but younger than 6 years old (mean +/- standard deviation age = 3.0 +/- 1.2 years) at the time of the survey. Women were recruited from agencies sponsoring health programs for mothers and children. They were interviewed in their homes (69%) or at the Hispanic Health Council, Hartford, Conn (31%).


METHODS
Low-income Latino women who had at least 1 preschooler at the time of the interview. The women lived in inner-city Hartford, and the overwhelming majority were Puerto Rican and received welfare assistance and food stamps. Seventy-eight percent of the women chose to be interviewed in Spanish; the other 22% were interviewed in English.


METHODS
Explanatory variables that related to breast-feeding initiation (P < or = .2) in bivariate chi 2 analyses were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model that was reduced using backward stepwise elimination procedures.


RESULTS
Multivariate analyses indicated that breast-feeding the previous child, shorter length of maternal residence in the United States, not receiving prenatal bottle-feeding advice, more recent birth, and higher birth weight were positively associated with breast-feeding initiation. A major reason for choosing not to breast-feed was that women felt socially uncomfortable doing it.


CONCLUSIONS
Breast-feeding initiation was more likely in Latino women who received prenatal breast-feeding counselling and postpartum support. Mothers of low-birth-weight infants and women breast-feeding for the first time may need additional help. These findings can be used by programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children to increase breast-feeding initiation.
Pérez-Escamilla
R
R
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-4017, USA. rperez@canr1.cag.uconn.edu
Himmelgreen
D
D
Segura-Millán
S
S
González
A
A
Ferris
A M
AM
Damio
G
G
Bermúdez-Vega
A
A
D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003237:Connecticut; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011203:Poverty; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population