title: Breastfeeding intention and early post-partum practices among overweight and obese women in Ontario: a selective population-based cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the relationship between overweight and obesity and breastfeeding behaviors, a cohort study was conducted among 22,131 women who delivered in Ontario hospitals between April 1 2008 and March 31 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data regarding maternal characteristics, maternal body mass index (BMI), infant characteristics, and breastfeeding practices were obtained through the Better Outcomes Registry & Network birth records Database. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine the rates of three outcome measures - intention to breastfeed, exclusive breastfeeding in hospital, and exclusive breastfeeding upon discharge from hospital - between non-obese, overweight and obese patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While overweight mothers have similar intentions to breastfeed compared to non-overweight mothers (OR 1.03 (0.87-1.21), obese mothers were less likely to intend to breastfeed (OR 0.84 (0.70-0.99). Overweight and obese mothers were less likely to exclusively breastfeed in hospital compared to non-overweight mothers (aOR 0.67 (0.60-0.75) and 0.67 (0.60-0.75), respectively), and overweight and obese mothers were less likely to exclusively breastfeed on discharge (aOR 0.68 (0.61-0.76) and 0.68 (0.61-0.76), respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights that while overweight and obese women may benefit more from exclusive breastfeeding compared to non-overweight women, they are less likely to exclusively breastfeed in the immediate post-partum period.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Hasina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Visram
authors.forename: Sara A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Finkelstein
authors.forename: Denice
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feig
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Abdool
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yasseen
authors.forename: Xiaowen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Keely
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D009864:Ontario; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*