Providers' Help/ Encouragement and Breastfeeding Initiation (BFI): Findings from the 2007 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) Project

Providers' help/encouragement can influence mothers' initiation of breastfeeding. Despite the large body of breastfeeding research, studies addressing the timing of providers' help/encouragement during pregnancy are limited.

Methods: We used data from the first wave of the 2007 LAMB Survey. LAMB is a biennial, population-based survey with telephone follow-up for non-respondents. The 2007 LAMB explored the association between BFI and providers' help/encouragement at prenatal care (PNC) visits and at the delivery hospital. Our preliminary analyses are based on the responses of 721 women with a live birth in 2007 in Los Angeles County. The logistic regression model was used to estimate the effect of providers' help/encouragement on BFI after adjusting for age, race, and education level.

Results: The breastfeeding rate was 87%. Sixty-seven percent of providers encouraged breastfeeding during the PNC visit and 87% at the delivery hospital. Providers' help/encouragement at delivery hospitals was associated with BFI (aOR=2.7, 95% CI=1.8). African American mothers were almost 4 times less likely to initiate breastfeeding than Whites (aOR=3.7, 95% CI=1.5, 1.0, 2). Providers' help/ encouragement at PNC was not associated with BFI (aOR =0.87, 95% CI=0.49, 1.53).

Conclusion: Preliminary analyses suggest an association between providers' help/encouragement at the delivery hospital and BFI, and highlight the need to continue developing effective strategies to encourage breastfeeding among African American mothers. Findings from the final study, which will comprise over 5,000 cases, will be presented and discussed. Challenges of implementing culturally sensitive BF promotion programs at the delivery hospitals will also be addressed.