CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 713Breastfeeding Practices and InfluencesInfant Nutrition and HealthMaternal and Perinatal Health Interventions

Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration: A 1990-2000 Literature Review

Open access
Dennis, Cindy-Lee·2002·Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing
DOI 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2002.tb00019.x
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Objective To review the literature on breastfeeding initiation and duration and to delineate effective strategies for promoting positive breastfeeding behaviors.Data sources Computerized searches on MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library.Study selection Articles from indexed journals relevant to the objective and published after 1990 (except for classic findings) were reviewed. Although a myriad of pertinent articles was located, referenced citations were limited to three per point. When article selection was required for a specific point, preferences were given to (a) randomized controlled trials; (b) meta-analyses; (c) studies with the largest, most representative samples; and (d) investigations conducted in North America.Data extraction Data were extracted and organized under the following headings: benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding initiation and duration, personal characteristics, attitudinal and intrapersonal characteristics, hospital policies and intrapartum experience, sources of support, breastfeeding interventions, and review implications.Data synthesis Although the health benefits of breastfeeding are well documented and initiation rates have increased over the past 20 years, most mothers wean before the recommended 6-months postpartum because of perceived difficulties with breastfeeding rather than due to maternal choice. Women least likely to breastfeed are those who are young, have a low income, belong to an ethnic minority, are unsupported, are employed full-time, decided to breastfeed during or late in pregnancy, have negative attitudes toward breastfeeding, and have low confidence in their ability to breastfeed. Support from the mother's partner or a nonprofessional greatly increases the likelihood of positive breastfeeding behaviors. Health care professionals can be a negative source of support if their lack of knowledge results in inaccurate or inconsistent advice. Furthermore, a number of hospital routines are potentially detrimental to breastfeeding. Although professional interventions that enhance the usual care mothers receive increase breastfeeding duration to 2 months, these supportive strategies have limited long-term effects. Peer support interventions also promote positive breastfeeding behaviors and should be considered.Conclusions A promising intervention is the complementation of professional services with peer support from a mother experienced in breastfeeding. This lay support appears to be an effective intervention with socially disadvantaged women.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2002.tb00019.x

Cites

188 of 188 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Research suggests a relation between breastfeeding and depressive symptoms.

    “Research suggests a relation between breastfeeding and depressive symptoms [51-55].”

    From Mamma mia: A feasibility study of a web-based intervention to reduce the risk of postpartum depression and enhance subjective well-being (2013) · cites this paper as [51]

    The “Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration” section reports that mothers identified feeling sad, or feeling sad and crying, alongside breastfeeding difficulties. These are depression-like symptoms, but the review does not report a measured association between breastfeeding and depressive symptoms; its evidence supports a narrower link than the citing sentence implies. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 14

  1. Barros, F., Halpern, R., Victora, C., Teixera, A., & Beria, J. (1994). A randomized intervention study to increase breastfeeding prevalence in southern Brazil. Review Saude Publication, 28(4), 277-283.
  2. Donnelly, A., Renfrew, M., Woolridge, M., Martin, L., & Snow- den, H. (2001). The influence of discharge packs on breastfeeding. In J. Neilson, C. Crowther, E. Hodnett, & G. Hofmeyr (Eds.), Pregnancy and childbirth module of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Available in The Cochrane Library [database on disk and CD ROM]. The Cochrane Collaboration, Issue 1. Oxford, UK: Updata Software (updated quarterly).
  3. Grossman, L., Harter, C., Sachs, L., & Kay, A. (1990). The effects of postpartum lactation counseling on the duration of breastfeeding in low-income women. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 144, 471-474.
  4. Haider, R., Islam, A., Hamadani, J., Amin, N., Kabir, I., Malek, M., et al. (1996). Breastfeeding counselling in a diarrhoeal disease hospital. Bulletin of the World Health Organiza- tion, 74, 173-179.
  5. In J. Neilson, C. Crowther, E. Hodnett, & G. Hofmeyr (Eds.), Pregnancy and childbirth module of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Available in The Cochrane Library [database on disk and CD ROM]. The Cochrane Collaboration, Issue 1. Oxford, UK: Updata Software (updated quarterly).
  6. Hunkeler, B., Aebi, A., Minder, C., & Bossi, E. (1994). Incidence and duration of breastfeeding of ill newborns. Journal of Pediatric and Gastro Nutrition, 18, 37-40.
  7. Inch, S., & Renfrew, M. J. (1995). Common breastfeeding prob- lems. In M. Enkin, M. Keirse, M. Renfrew, & J. Neilson (Eds.), Effective care in pregnancy and childbirth. Vol. 2 Childbirth (2nd ed). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  8. James, D., Jackson, R., & Probart, C. (1994). Factors associat- ed with breastfeeding prevalence and duration amongst international students. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 94, 194-196.
  9. Lynch, S., Koch, A., Hislop, T., & Coldman, A. (1986). Evalu- ating the effect of a breastfeeding consultant on the dura- tion of breastfeeding. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 77, 190-195.
  10. Myres, A. (1979). A retrospective look at infant feeding prac- tices in Canada: 1965-1971. Journal of Canadian Dietet- ic Association, 40, 200-211.
  11. Sikorski, J., & Renfrew, M. J. (2001). Support for breast- feeding mothers. In J. Neilson, C. Crowther, E. Hodnett, & G. Hofmeyr (Eds.), Pregnancy and childbirth module of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Avail- able in The Cochrane Library [database on disk and CD ROM]. The Cochrane Collaboration, Issue 1. Oxford, UK: Updata Software (updated quarterly).
  12. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy People 2010 (Conference ed., in 2 volumes). Washington, DC: Author.
  13. Visness, C., & Kennedy, K. (1997). Maternal employment and breast-feeding. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 945-950.
  14. Vogel, A., & Mitchell, E. (1998). The establishment and dura- tion of breastfeeding. Part I: Hospital influences. Breast- feeding Review, 6, 5-9.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Dennis, C.-L.
Affiliations
University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Dennis, Cindy-Lee
ORCID
Dennis, Cindy-Lee
Venue
Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2002-01
Volume
31
Issue
1
Pages
12-32
ISSN
  • 0090-0311 (ISSN-L)
  • 0884-2175
DOI
10.1111/j.1552-6909.2002.tb00019.x
OpenAlex
W2081239906
Cited by
713
References
188
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 49
FWCI
2.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Breastfeeding Practices and Influences
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
Keywords
breastfeeding initiation, breastfeeding duration, breastfeeding promotion, breastfeeding interventions, peer support, breastfeeding attitudes, maternal confidence, hospital policy, maternal employment, socioeconomic status, ethnic minority mothers, weaning
MeSH terms
Breast Feeding, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Peer Group, Health Behavior, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Maternal-Child Nursing

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review