Predictors of term infant feeding at week 12 postpartum

As part of a large nonexperimental, prospective, longitudinal study, 97 breast-feeding mothers of healthy term singleton infants were queried via telephone at weeks 8-12 14 postpartum about their infant feeding method. At week 12, 71.1% of them provided mother's milk (MM), 16.5% provided artificial milk (AM) and MM, and 12.4% provided AM only. Logistic regression analysis identified the following predictors for risk of supplemental feedings with AM at week 12 postpartum: supplementation with AM at week 6, inadequate milk supply at week 6, frequency of breast stimulation less than 7.8 times daily at week 6. Milk output during weeks 1-6 was predictive of feeding type at week 12. Mothers who reported perceived inadequate milk supply (PIMS) at week 8 were more likely to provide AM at week 12 than mothers who did not report PIMS. Further research is needed to assist mothers of healthy term infants with sustaining their milk supply and assisting them with PIMS.