Table 1 Factors associated with the duration of breastfeeding, stratified by consistency of reports
From: Factors associated with breastfeeding at six months postpartum in a group of Australian women
Factors | Consistent associations reported in the literature | Associations reported in the literature but not found consistently | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | Positive association – breastfeeding duration | Negative or no association – breastfeeding duration | Positive association – breastfeeding duration | Negative or no association – breastfeeding duration |
Maternal & social factors | Intention to breastfeed [5, 6-15] | Higher body mass index [27, 46, 47] | Having a previous child/children [21, 23] | Previous infant feeding method (no association) [9] |
| Â | Earlier timing of decision to breastfeed [7, 9, 16-18] | Â | Having a previous baby increased planned duration [6] | Breastfeeding confidence (no association) [7] |
| Â | Increasing age [8, 9, 11-13, 15, 18-23] | Â | The better the previous breastfeeding experience, the more positive association with subsequent breastfeeding duration [14, 23] | Lower income [48] |
| Â | Higher education [7, 9, 11, 14, 19, 21, 24-26] | Â | Breastfeeding confidence [6, 8, 10, 14, 22, 32, 49] | A view that the feeding method makes no difference to the baby's health [42] |
| Â | Not smoking [19, 21, 23, 27-30] or smoking less [25] | Â | Higher social class [50, 51] | More positive attitude to bottle feeding [11] |
| Â | Being married [21] or not being single [22] | Â | Higher income [20] | Employment plans (no association) [9, 11, 12] |
| Â | Â | Â | Higher socioeconomic status [2] | Returning to work [22] |
| Â | Â | Â | Maternal attitude to infant feeding [24] or negative attitude to formula feeding [7] | Parity (no association) [20] |
| Â | Â | Â | Having been breastfed oneself [42] | Perception of lack of support for breastfeeding [6] |
| Â | Â | Â | Attendance at childbirth education classes [9] | Â |
| Â | Â | Â | Partner's perceived preference for breastfeeding [12, 22, 42, 52] | Â |
| Â | Â | Â | Breastfeeding knowledge [53] | Â |
Hospital practices & obstetric factors | Â | Early postnatal discharge (no association) [5, 23, 55, 56] | Earlier breastfeeding initiation [7,10, 18, 32, 57, 58] | Caesarean section [9] |
| Â | Â | Early postnatal discharge [59] | Rooming-in [12, 32, 60] | Birth type (no association) [7, 61] |
| Â | Â | Commercial discharge packs (but effect more on exclusivity) [62] | Early skin-to-skin contact [63, 64] | Early infant to breast contact (no association) [12] |
| Â | Â | Â | Breastfeeding encouragement from a health professional [22] | Use of formula during the postnatal hospital stay [26, 65] (but not associated in earlier meta-analysis [64]) |
Other potential influences | Â | Introduction of solids with continued breastfeeding (no association) [66] | Mastitis [15] | Breastfeeding problems such as sore and cracked nipples (no association) [7] |
| Â | Â | Introduction of formula [10, 15, 58, 66] | Â | Early breastfeeding problems [22] |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Inverted nipples [15] |
| Â | Â | Â | Infant birth weight >2500 g [21] | Lower infant birth weight [23] |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Infant birth weight (no association) [9] |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Male infant [12] |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Admission to special care nursery [12] |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Use of dummies (pacifiers) [15, 25, 26] |
| Â | Â | Â | Â | Use of dummies (pacifiers) (no association) [67] |