title: Perceived family perceptions of breastfeeding and Chinese new mothers' breastfeeding behaviors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide an understanding of Chinese new mothers' breastfeeding behaviors and especially to explore the relationship between the mothers perceived family perception about breastfeeding and the new mothers' breastfeeding behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in Beijing and Yinchuan, the capital of Ning Xia Province, China. 214 new mothers with a baby at the age of 4 months were recruited to the study. The family perception of breastfeeding scale and the new mothers' breastfeeding behavior record were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was n=200, 94%. Most of the new mothers perceived positive family perceptions about breastfeeding with an average score of 23.13 using the family perception of breastfeeding scale. Nearly half of the respondents reported that they exclusively breastfed their infants (n=94, 47%). The main reason for breastfeeding difficulty was inadequate lactation (n=56, 69%). The new mothers who breastfed their infants mentioned significantly stronger family perceptions/support compared to those who used mixed feeding or artificial feeding (p<0.001). There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the types of mothers' feeding behaviors across the different age group, occupation, ethnicity, educational level, mode of delivery, the time of the baby's first suck, bottle feeding before the baby's first suck and the time of having colostrums.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is suggested to develop some strategies, such as family-centered antenatal and postnatal education programmes, to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding by influencing new mothers' families about breastfeeding. Further research is needed to explore socio-demographic variables associated with new-mothers' breastfeeding behaviors.
authors: Peking University School of Nursing, Beijing, # 38 Xue Yuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100191, China. luhong@bjmu.edu.cn
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Lu
authors: Hongyan
authors: H
authors: Li
authors: Shuqin
authors: S
authors: Ma
authors: Lijuan
authors: L
authors: Xia
authors: Kyllike
authors: K
authors: Christensson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007774:Lactation; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009035:Mothers; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult