Breastfeeding intention and early post-partum practices among overweight and obese women in Ontario: a selective population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between overweight and obesity and breastfeeding behaviors, a cohort study was conducted among 22,131 women who delivered in Ontario hospitals between April 1 2008 and March 31 2010.

METHODS

Data regarding maternal characteristics, maternal body mass index (BMI), infant characteristics, and breastfeeding practices were obtained through the Better Outcomes Registry & Network birth records Database. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine the rates of three outcome measures - intention to breastfeed, exclusive breastfeeding in hospital, and exclusive breastfeeding upon discharge from hospital - between non-obese, overweight and obese patients.

RESULTS

While overweight mothers have similar intentions to breastfeed compared to non-overweight mothers (OR 1.03 (0.87-1.21), obese mothers were less likely to intend to breastfeed (OR 0.84 (0.70-0.99). Overweight and obese mothers were less likely to exclusively breastfeed in hospital compared to non-overweight mothers (aOR 0.67 (0.60-0.75) and 0.67 (0.60-0.75), respectively), and overweight and obese mothers were less likely to exclusively breastfeed on discharge (aOR 0.68 (0.61-0.76) and 0.68 (0.61-0.76), respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights that while overweight and obese women may benefit more from exclusive breastfeeding compared to non-overweight women, they are less likely to exclusively breastfeed in the immediate post-partum period.