Breastfeeding and Breast milk Feeding Practices Among Women Participating in the Infant Feeding Practices Survey II

Although data on how many women breastfeed and for how long, few studies have described how breastfeeding is practiced in the U.S. Using data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, a longitudinal survey of 2,000 mothers, we characteristics of breastfeeding and breast milk expression. We analyze number of feeds per day, length of feeds, how feeds end, time between feeds, how mothers manage continuing to breastfeed after returning to work, age at first milk expression, prevalence of expressed milk feeds, and mixing breast milk and infant formula in the same bottle. . Preliminary data suggest that in the early months, feeds tend to last longer as infants age: during the neonatal period, 62.9% of mothers report feeds last <10 minutes, and 20.7% report they last between 10 and 29 minutes, however, by month 3, the prevalence of feeds lasting <10 minutes drops to 7.7%, with 81.5% of mothers reporting feeds during this time to last between 10 and 29 minutes. In month 2, 37.6% of mothers who have returned to work and are breastfeeding report they keep the baby with them while working and breastfeed during their work day, and 51.7% report that they pump milk to later feed to their infant. This presentation will provide public health professionals with a detailed perspective on breastfeeding practices and can inform successful outreach to increase both duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding.