Breastfeeding after Gestational Diabetes: Does Perceived Benefits Mediate the Relationship?
Table 1
Distribution of maternal characteristics by study population and gestational diabetes mellitus.
Characteristic
Overall
GDM
No GDM
Percent
Percent ()
Percent ()
( value)
Age
<0.0001
18–24 years
28.3
17.2
28.2
25–29 years
32.4
27.9
33.0
30–34 years
25.0
27.0
25.3
35–52 years
14.4
27.9
13.5
Marital status
0.43
Married
75.5
77.9
75.8
Not married
24.5
22.1
24.2
Maternal race
0.12
White, non-Hispanic
82.8
79.5
81.6
Black, non-Hispanic
5.3
4.4
6.4
Hispanic
6.7
9.1
6.8
Other
5.1
7.1
5.2
Maternal education
0.80
Less than high school
4.8
4.4
4.5
High school
19.9
21.9
19.4
1–3 years of college
41.1
39.3
41.3
College graduate
34.2
34.4
34.8
Income
0.55
<20,000
15.6
15.8
16.1
20,000–49,999
41.4
40.7
43.4
≥50,000
43.0
43.6
40.5
Health insurance
0.63
Yes
94.7
95.4
94.8
No
5.3
4.6
5.2
Prepregnancy BMI
<0.0001
Underweight (<18.5 kg/m2)
5.3
1.7
5.5
Normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg/m2)
46.3
26.7
47.9
Overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2)
24.8
26.1
24.8
Obese (30.0+)
23.6
45.5
21.8
Breastfeeding duration
0.06
Never breastfed
14.3
20.4
14.2
Breastfed less than 6 months
42.7
39.8
45.0
Breastfed 6 or more months
43.0
39.8
38.0
Breastfeeding prevents diarrhea
0.79
Strongly disagree
5.7
6.1
5.7
Somewhat disagree
8.9
9.0
9.0
Neither agree or disagree
36.1
38.4
35.4
Somewhat agree
26.6
26.1
27.0
Strongly agree
22.8
20.3
22.8
Breastfeeding prevents obesity
0.48
Strongly disagree
10.9
13.6
10.7
Somewhat disagree
10.1
8.4
10.3
Neither agree or disagree
42.8
43.2
42.5
Somewhat agree
19.7
19.0
19.7
Strongly agree
16.5
15.8
16.9
Breastfeeding prevents ear infections
0.16
Strongly disagree
5.3
6.8
5.2
Somewhat disagree
6.5
9.4
6.3
Neither agree nor disagree
25.4
23.4
25.0
Somewhat agree
31.2
29.2
31.5
Strongly agree
31.6
31.2
32.0
Breastfeeding prevents respiratory illness
0.45
Strongly disagree
5.1
6.5
5.0
Somewhat disagree
6.0
7.8
6.0
Neither agree nor disagree
25.6
25.3
25.1
Somewhat agree
32.5
29.9
33.1
Strongly agree
30.7
30.5
30.7
GDM = gestational diabetes mellitus, BMI = body mass index. Not all percentages sum to 100% due to rounding. The following category is from an IFPS II survey question asking, “How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements: If a baby is breastfed, he or she will be less likely to (get an ear infection; get a respiratory illness; get diarrhea; become obese)”.
