Maternal hospital experiences associated with breastfeeding at 6 months in a northern California county.

A retrospective cohort study of infant-feeding practices at 6 months of age was conducted for 382 breastfed infants in a semirural northern California county. The authors hypothesized that almost exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months would be related to maternal experiences in the hospital. Multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for maternal age and education, found that almost exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months was positively associated with receiving a telephone number for breastfeeding help from the hospital (odds ratio, 6.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-33.9), use of a breast pump in the first 6 months (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-4.76), and gestational age (odds ratio, 2.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-4.71 for a 4-week age difference), whereas formula supplementation at the hospital had a negative association (odds ratio, 0.27; 95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.56). Making postpartum breastfeeding support easily accessible and offering breast pumps at low or no cost may help to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates in this county.

Evaluation of lactation support in the workplace or school environment on 6-month breastfeeding outcomes in Yolo County, California.

Six-month breastfeeding outcomes (almost exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding, and not breastfeeding) were analyzed for 201 infants born to Yolo County, California, mothers who returned to work or school. Twenty-two percent of workplaces and 17% of schools did not provide a lactation room. Although part- or full-time status, knowledge of breastfeeding rules, and support from colleagues were independently associated with the outcome, they were not significant in the multivariate analysis. In the selected model, maternal age (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3; 1.3-3.9 for a 10-year difference), college or above versus