title: A population-based cohort study of breastfeeding according to gestational age at term delivery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Because breastfeeding is the optimal form of infant feeding, this study was conducted to determine the effect of gestational age on breastfeeding in term infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective population-based cohort study of singleton/twin hospital births was conducted in Ontario, Canada between April 1, 2009, and March 31, 2010. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the adjusted effect of gestational age on breastfeeding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study population comprised 92,364 infants, of whom 80,297 (86.9%) were exclusively or partially breastfed at the time of hospital discharge. Multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that early-term infants had lower odds of being breastfed compared with infants born at 41 weeks gestation (40 weeks: aOR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.86-0.99; 39 weeks: aOR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.81-0.93; 38 weeks: aOR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.75-0.88; 37 weeks: aOR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.67-0.82).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using a population-based approach, we found that infants born at 40, 39, 38, and 37 weeks gestation had increasingly lower odds of being breastfed compared with infants born at 41 weeks. Clinicians need to be made aware of the differences in outcomes of infants delivered at early and late term, so that appropriate breastfeeding support can be provided to women at risk for not breastfeeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Olha
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lutsiv
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giglia
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pullenayegum
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vera
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fusch
authors.forename: Sarah D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: McDonald
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009864:Ontario; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D047929:Term Birth
keywords: BORN; Better Outcomes Registry and Network