Skip to main content

Table 1 Sociodemographic and biomedical characteristics of the participants (n = 935)

From: Determinants of breastfeeding initiation among mothers in Sydney, Australia: findings from a birth cohort study

Characteristic

Number

Percent

Sociodemographic factors

 Maternal age (years)

   < 25

93

9.9

  25–29

255

27.3

  30–34

351

37.5

   ≥ 35

236

25.2

 Maternal education

   < Year 12

141

15.1

  Year 12 completed

208

22.2

  College/TAFE

179

19.1

  University

407

43.5

 Marital status

  Married

734

78.5

  Living with a partner/ De facto

110

11.8

  Single Mother

91

9.7

 Mother’s occupation

  Home duties/ student

170

18.2

  Managers

61

6.5

  Professionals

241

25.8

  Sales/Clerical

294

31.4

  Unskilled

169

18.1

 Mother’s country of birth

  Australia

436

46.6

  China

57

6.1

  Vietnam

132

14.1

  Asia other

111

11.9

  Middle East/Africa

81

8.7

  Others

117

12.5

 Partner’s country of birth

  Australia

359

38.4

  China

42

4.5

  Vietnam

115

12.3

  Asia Other

105

11.2

  Middle East/Africa

96

10.3

  Others

120

12.8

 Index for relative socioeconomic disadvantage

  Least Disadvantaged

50

5.3

  2nd Quintile

238

25.5

  3rd Quintile

80

8.6

  4th Quintile

183

19.6

  Most Disadvantaged

384

41.1

Biomedical factors

  

 Parity

  Primiparous

468

50.1

  Multiparous

467

49.9

 Infant gender

  Female

458

49.0

  Male

477

51.0

 Infant birth weight

  Average or greater

889

95.1

  Low

46

4.9

 Smoking status of the mother post partum

  No

852

91.1

  Yes

83

8.9

 Smoking status of the mother during pregnancy

  No

884

94.5

  Yes

51

5.5

 Alcohol drinking status of the mother post partum

  No

633

67.7

  Yes

302

32.3

 Alcohol drinking status of the mother during pregnancy

  No

843

90.2

  Yes

92

9.8

 Method of delivery

  Vaginal

653

69.8

  Caesarean

282

30.2