Is Child Care Providers' (CCPs) support for breastfeeding associated with breastfeeding duration?

Background: Because lactating mothers' participate in the workforce, it becomes increasingly important to support breastfeeding where their children are cared for. Unfortunately, little is known about child care providers' (CCPs) support and its impact on breastfeeding duration.

Methods: Infant Feeding Practices Study II is a longitudinal study which followed mothers of infants via mail questionnaires almost monthly from late pregnancy throughout the first year. This study included ~700 mothers whose children were cared for by someone other than themselves and who answered 5 questions regarding CCPs breastfeeding supports at 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-months. We aggregated the measures of breastfeeding support at each survey and calculated a mean breastfeeding support score over time (mean support) ranging from 0=No support to 5=Full support. To study the dose-response relationship, we compared the percentage of mothers breastfeeding >=12 months by mean support using chi-square tests.

Results: Only 3% of mothers breastfed>=12 months among those whose CCPs provided no breastfeeding support, whereas 28% of mothers whose CCPs provided full support did so. The dose-response analysis showed that the more breastfeeding supports provided by CCPs, the more likely the child was breastfed >=12 months (X2=33.33, p<.0001). Additionally, among a subset of mothers whose children attended child care centers (n=~600), a similar dose-response relationship was observed (X2=16.22, p<.05). In addition, the impact on breastfeeding duration varied among five different supports surveyed.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest supports for breastfeeding in child care settings can help mothers meet US breastfeeding goals of breastfeeding for at least 12 months.