Table 1 Sociodemographic, obstetric, infant and breastfeeding characteristics by maternal country of birth
Characteristic, n (%) | Portuguese | European | South American | African | p - value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median length of maternal residence in Portugal (Years) | 7.0 | 3.0 | 10.5 | < 0.05 | |
≤ 5 years | 24 (39.3) | 85 (80.2) | 20 (29.9) | < 0.05 | |
> 5 years | 37 (60.7) | 21 (19.8) | 47 (70.1) | ||
Age at arrival in Portugal | |||||
< 18 years | 4 (6.6) | 3 (2.8) | 20 (29.9) | < 0.05 | |
≥ 18 years | 57 (93.4) | 103 (97.2) | 47 (70.1) | ||
Maternal age at birth (years) | |||||
< 20 | 330 (4.8) | 2 (3.3) | 1 (1.0) | 0 (0.0) | < 0.05 |
20–34 | 5330 (78.0) | 54 (88.5) | 90 (84.9) | 46 (68.7) | |
≥ 35 | 1171 (17.1) | 5 (8.2) | 15 (14.2) | 21 (31.3) | |
Marital status | |||||
Married/committed | 6418 (94.0) | 59 (98.3) | 100 (94.3) | 60 (89.6) | 0.428 |
Single | 405 (6.0) | 1 (1.7) | 6 (5.7) | 7 (10.4) | |
Maternal education | |||||
Basic | 3287 (48.1) | 6 (9.8) | 16 (15.1) | 18 (26.9) | < 0.05 |
Secondary | 2081 (30.5) | 31 (50.8) | 71 (67.0) | 29 (43.3) | |
Tertiary | 1463 (21.4) | 24 (39.3) | 19 (17.9) | 20 (29.9) | |
Maternal occupation | |||||
Employed | 5354 (79.1) | 50 (82.0) | 74 (69.8) | 47 (71.2) | 0.076 |
Unemployed | 1413 (20.9) | 11 (18.0) | 30 (30.2) | 19 (28.8) | |
Household income (euros/month) | |||||
≤ 1000 | 2289 (38.4) | 13 (24.5) | 46 (52.3) | 24 (42.1) | < 0.05 |
1001–1500 | 1776 (29.9) | 18 (34.0) | 17 (19.3) | 10 (17.5) | |
> 1500 | 1894 (31.8) | 22 (41.5) | 25 (28.4) | 23 (40.4) | |
Primiparae | 3866 (57.5) | 45 (73.8) | 65 (62.5) | 30 (48.8) | < 0.05 |
Overweight/Obese | 2042 (29.9) | 10 (16.4) | 27 (25.5) | 14 (20.9) | |
> 6 prenatal visits | 5848 (89.8) | 51 (86.4) | 84 (84.0) | 53 (84.1) | 0.096 |
Maternal smoking during pregnancy | 1512 (22.1) | 17 (27.9) | 16 (15.1) | 8 (11.9) | < 0.05 |
Caesarean section delivery | 2445 (35.9) | 20 (33.3) | 54 (51.9) | 25 (37.9) | < 0.05 |
Infant’s sex (male) | 3346 (49.0) | 26 (42.6) | 55 (51.9) | 34 (50.7) | 0.702 |
Preterm infant | 493 (7.2) | 4 (6.6) | 5 (4.7) | 6 (9.0) | 0.721 |
Low birthweight infant | 484 (7.1) | 2 (3.3) | 4 (3.8) | 3 (4.5) | 0.242 |
Small for gestational age infant | 1006 (14.7) | 6 (9.8) | 11 (10.4) | 4 (6.0) | 0.081 |
NICU Admission | 442 (8.7) | 9 (19.3) | 3 (4.0) | 3 (6.1) | < 0.05 |
Type of breastfeeding practices | |||||
Exclusive formula | 446 (7.4) | 2 (3.9) | 6 (6.4) | 3 (5.1) | 0.841 |
Exclusive breastfeeding | 1353 (22.4) | 12 (23.5) | 21 (22.3) | 10 (16.9) | |
Mixed feeding | 4232 (70.2) | 37 (72.5) | 67 (71.3) | 46 (78.0) | |
Duration of exclusive breastfeeding in months | |||||
< 1 month | 965 (17.6) | 6 (12.5) | 8 (9.6) | 4 (7.5) | < 0.05 |
1.0–2.9 months | 1354 (24.7) | 8 (16.7) | 16 (19.0) | 11 (20.4) | < 0.05 |
3.0–5.9 months | 2258 (41.2) | 25 (52.1) | 37 (44.0) | 21 (38.9) | |
≥ 6.0 months | 902 (16.6) | 9 (18.8) | 23 (27.4) | 18 (33.3) | |
Total duration of any breastfeeding in months | |||||
< 1 month | 497 (5.8) | 3 (7.9) | 4 (5.9) | 2 (4.2) | < 0.05 |
1.0–2.9 months | 740 (16.6) | 2 (5.3) | 6 (8.8) | 3 (6.3) | |
3.0–5.9 months | 867 (19.4) | 8 (21.1) | 11 (16.4) | 7 (14.6) | |
6.0–11.9 months | 1309 (29.3) | 13 (34.2) | 29 (42.6) | 11 (22.9) | |
≥ 12 months | 1157 (25.9) | 12 (31.6) | 18 (26.5) | 25 (52.1) | |