Abstract

BackgroundIn recent years there has been a steady influx of immigrants into Hong Kong from Mainland China, where breastfeeding patterns differ. Studies in other regions have found substantial differences in breastfeeding rates between native-born and immigrant mothers. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with breastfeeding initiation in Hong Kong born and Mainland China born mothers living in Hong Kong.MethodsWe used a multi-center cross-sectional study design and recruited 2761 new mothers from the postnatal wards of all eight public hospitals in Hong Kong that offer obstetric services. We assessed breastfeeding status as well as various socio-demographic, maternal and birth characteristics. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify the predictors of breastfeeding initiation in Hong Kong born and Mainland China born participants.Results80.3 % of Hong Kong and 81.1 % of Mainland Chinese born women initiated breastfeeding. In the fully adjusted models, multiparity (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.53, 95 % CI 0.43–0.66) and maternal smoking (OR 0.29, 95 % CI 0.18–0.45) were strongly associated with failure to initiate breastfeeding in both Hong Kong and Mainland China born participants. In Hong Kong born mothers, participants with lower maternal education and those who had a cesarean section were significantly less likely to breastfeed. For Mainland China born mothers, paternal smoking (OR 0.70, 95 % CI 0.49–0.99) and having a pregnancy-related health problem (OR 0.60, 95 % CI 0.38–0.94) were both additional risk factors for not breastfeeding.ConclusionThis study has identified predictors of breastfeeding initiation in Hong Kong and Mainland China born mothers. Given the current high breastfeeding initiation rates among both groups, antenatal breastfeeding education and promotion programmes need to specifically intervene with sub-groups of pregnant women at risk for not breastfeeding so that their efforts are more strategic and cost-effective.

Highlights

  • In recent years there has been a steady influx of immigrants into Hong Kong from Mainland China, where breastfeeding patterns differ

  • A total of 80.6 % (n = 2225) of participants initiated breastfeeding in the hospital, with similar rates among Hong Kong born mothers (80.3 %) and Mainland China born mothers (81.1 %)

  • In this study we examined breastfeeding initiation patterns among postpartum women born in Hong Kong and Mainland China and identified some common and disparate predictors of breastfeeding initiation

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Summary

Introduction

In recent years there has been a steady influx of immigrants into Hong Kong from Mainland China, where breastfeeding patterns differ. Studies in other regions have found substantial differences in breastfeeding rates between native-born and immigrant mothers. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with breastfeeding initiation in Hong Kong born and Mainland China born mothers living in Hong Kong. There is an increasing trend of mothers initiating breastfeeding [3], rates of exclusive breastfeeding remain low and overall duration is short [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. When compared with infant formula feeding, breastfeeding provides unparalleled health benefits to both the infant and the mother. In the early postpartum period breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of postpartum hemorrhage and in the long-term reduces the risk of both breast and ovarian cancers [16, 17]

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