It has been observed from descriptive studies that the lactational performance might be poor among obese women. Recently, a longitudinal study demonstrate that excessive fatness in the reproductive period may inhibit lactational performance in women after adjusting covariates. In order to test the hypothesis that maternal pre-pregnancy weight and weight gain during pregnancy have certain impact on lactational performance, two surveillance systems for WIC population were linked for this study. A total of about 88,000 unduplicated records were obtained from the data linkage. Firstly, the logistic regression analysis was used to study whether being ever breastfed was associated with maternal obesity. The results showed that the impact of pre-pregnancy BMI on being ever breastfed was interacted with weight gain during pregnancy. Secondly, we used the multiple linear regression analysis to test whether the duration of breastfeeding was affected by maternal obesity. The results showed that compared with mothers whose pre-pregnancy BMI were normal, the duration of breastfeeding was about two weeks, one week and 0.7 week shorter for obese, overweight and underweight mothers respectively. In conclusion, the study suggests that maternal obesity has negative impact on lactational performance and women with abnormal weight need to be targeted in breastfeeding promotion.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the association of lactation performance with maternal factors during pregnancy. 2. Evaluate the procedure of assessing the impact of maternal obesity on lactation performance. 3. Discuss the impact of maternal pre-pregnancy weight and weight gain during pregnancy on lactation performance
Keywords: Breast Feeding, Obesity
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.