title: Reduced Breastfeeding Rates in Firstborn Late Preterm and Early Term Infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary objective was to determine the rate of breastfeeding by gestational age reported by new mothers 1 month postpartum, with particular focus on early term newborns (37-38(6)/7 weeks).
  
  
  METHODS
  Three thousand six primiparous women aged 18-36 years were interviewed during their third trimester and again 1 month postpartum. Logistic regression analysis was used to model the association between gestational age and breastfeeding 1 month postpartum among those who reported that they planned to breastfeed, controlling for potentially confounding variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two thousand seven hundred seventy-two women planned to breastfeed (92.2%), among whom 116 (4.2%) delivered late preterm (34-36(6)/7 weeks), 519 (18.7%) early term (37-38(6)/7 weeks), and 2,137 (77.1%) term or postterm (39+ weeks). Among those who delivered late preterm, 63.8% were breastfeeding 1 month postpartum, early term 72.6%, and term or postterm 76.5%. This relationship was verified by a multivariate logistic regression analysis; late preterm newborns were significantly less likely to be breastfeeding 1 month postpartum than the term or postterm newborns (odds ratio [OR] 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.28-0.69; p ≤ 0.0001), as were early term newborns (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.60-0.99; p = 0.038).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this large prospective study of first-time mothers and newborns, gestational age was significantly associated with breastfeeding 1 month postpartum; highlighting late preterm and early term infants as populations at risk for shortened breastfeeding duration and the need to create specific breastfeeding support and education.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pediatrics, Penn State College of Medicine , Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Hackman
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State College of Medicine , Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alligood-Percoco
authors.affiliation: 3 Penn State College of Medicine , Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine , Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Junjia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State College of Medicine , Hershey, Pennsylvania.|4 Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine , Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Kristen H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kjerulff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001722:Birth Order; D001942:Breast Feeding; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D033182:Intention; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult