Association between Breastfeeding Duration and Type of Birth Attendant
Table 1
Distribution of maternal characteristics by healthcare provider at birth.
Characteristic
Total
Obstetrician
Family or other MD
Midwife
Chi square
Percent = 2,651
Percent = 2,304
Percent = 149
Percent = 198
( value)
Age
0.0046
18–24 years
22.1
21.4
26.4
27.8
25–29 years
33.7
33.4
33.8
37.4
30–34 years
27.9
27.9
31.8
24.2
35–45 years
16.3
17.3
8.1
10.6
Marital status
0.3323
Not married
20.2
19.8
24.1
22.5
Maternal race
0.0477
White, NH
85.6
84.8
90.9
90.8
Black, NH
4.4
4.6
4.2
2.0
Hispanic
5.8
6.1
4.9
3.6
Others
4.2
4.5
0.0
3.6
Maternal education
0.001
Less than high school
3.0
2.6
5.1
6.5
High school
16.8
16.3
24.8
16.7
1–3 years of college
40.0
39.8
41.6
40.9
College graduate
40.2
41.3
28.5
36.0
Income
0.0004
<$20,000
13.0
12.2
19.5
17.2
$20,000–$49,999
42.4
41.6
49.0
46.0
≥$50,000
44.6
46.1
31.5
36.9
Prepregnancy BMI
0.0286
Underweight
4.8
4.8
3.4
6.2
Normal weight
45.3
45.1
39.2
52.9
Overweight
25.5
25.1
33.8
23.8
Obese
24.4
25.1
23.7
17.1
Health insurance
0.0005
No
4.4
3.8
7.4
9.1
Postnatal WIC
0.0153
Yes
38.9
37.9
48.3
43.4
Prenatal WIC
0.0494
Yes
28.8
27.9
34.9
33.8
Mode of delivery
<0.0001
Vaginally, not induced
37.4
33.6
53.0
69.7
Vaginally, induced
34.0
35.0
31.5
23.7
Planned C-section
16.5
18.3
8.1
2.0
Unplanned or emergency C-section
12.2
13.2
7.4
4.6
Breastfeeding duration (any)
<0.0001
Never
14.6
15.5
14.1
5.6
<6 months
44.1
44.8
43.6
37.4
≥6 months
41.2
39.8
42.3
57.1
Breastfeeding duration (exclusive)
<0.0001
Never
25.3
27.3
23.9
7.6
<6 months
66.5
65.7
68.2
73.1
≥6 months
8.2
7.0
8.0
19.3
Breastfeeding intention
<0.0001
Breastfeed only
60.1
59.1
53.0
78.1
Formula or combination
39.9
40.9
47.0
21.9
Smoked during pregnancy
0.6304
Yes
9.6
9.4
10.7
11.2
NH = non-Hispanic; WIC = women; infants and children; BMI = body mass index; C-section = Cesarean section. Note. Not all percentages sum to 100% due to rounding.
