Reduced Breastfeeding Rates in Firstborn Late Preterm and Early Term Infants

Abstract Objectives: The primary objective was to determine the rate of breastfeeding by gestational age reported by new mothers 1 month postpartum, with particular focus on early term newborns (37–386/7 weeks). Materials and Methods: Three thousand six primiparous women aged 18–36 years were interviewed during their third trimester and again 1 month postpartum. Logistic regression analysis was used to model the association between gestational age and breastfeeding 1 month postpartum among those who reported that they planned to breastfeed, controlling for potentially confounding variables. Results: Two thousand seven hundred seventy-two women planned to breastfeed (92.2%), among whom 116 (4.2%) delivered late preterm (34–366/7 weeks), 519 (18.7%) early term (37–386/7 weeks), and 2,137 (77.1%) term or postterm (39+ weeks). Among those who delivered late preterm, 63.8% were breastfeeding 1 month postpartum, early term 72.6%, and term or postterm 76.5%. This relationship was verified by a multivariate logis...