Danish Health Care Providers' Perception of Breastfeeding Difficulty Experienced by Women Who Are Obese, Have Large Breasts, or Both

Maternal obesity is associated with short duration of breastfeeding, and many obese women also have large breasts. To determine if health professionals who support lactating women can distinguish between these maternal characteristics as obstacles to breastfeeding, the authors conducted a mail survey of 242 Danish health professionals. They thought that initiating was more difficult (P < .0001) than continuing breastfeeding for women with large breasts and/or obesity. These difficulties were thought to be lowest for women with large breasts, higher for obese women, and highest for obese women with large breasts (P < .0001). These difficult ratings were significantly related in a complex manner to the respondents' personal characteristics and type of training. These findings indicate the importance of recognizing and treating large breasts and maternal obesity as separate obstacles to successful breastfeeding and that interventions to reduce these obstacles should be designed to account for characteristics of the person providing them. J Hum Lact. 26(2):138-147