Predictors of breastfeeding exclusivity in a WIC sample

To examine predictors of breastfeeding exclusivity in low-income women who received services from a Chicago area clinic of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC).

A secondary data analysis of existing clinical and administrative data.

An urban community health center serving low-income families.

Two hundred and thirty-five (235) low-income women who initiated breastfeeding and received WIC services.

Logistic regression models were fit to existing prenatal and postpartum data to determine predictors of breastfeeding exclusivity during the immediate postpartum period.

Only 23% of the sample breastfed exclusively. Women who received first-trimester prenatal care were more likely to exclusively breastfeed than women who entered prenatal care in later trimesters (OR = 2.02, p ≤ 0.05). Women who declared intentions prenatally to exclusively breastfeed were more likely to exclusively breastfeed than women who did not intend to breastfeed (OR = 3.85, p ≤ 0.001). Overweight/obese women were less likely to exclusively breastfeed than normal/underweight women (OR = 0.50, p ≤ 0.05).

Findings from this study can be used to develop tailored interventions to promote breastfeeding exclusivity among low-income WIC recipients.