Characteristics of breastfeeding mothers delivering at Rush University Medical Center

This study explored characteristics of breastfeeding mothers at Rush University Medical Center. Data were collected from a total of 299 mothers (183 breastfeeding inpatient) as well as 169 (76 breastfeeding) mothers one month post-discharge. At one month, mothers indicating they were breastfeeding were 53.9% White, 65.8% with a Bachelor's degree or higher, 76.3% married, 55.3% with private insurance, and had a mean age of 30 years. The importance of the fathers' opinions on how to feed the baby seemed very important to mothers (74.3%). When comparing attitudes and knowledge among mothers using the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale, breastfeeding mothers had more positive attitudes and knowledge towards breastfeeding (65.63 +/- 6.91 out of 85) when compared to formula feeding (54.86 +/- 6.53) and mixed feeding (60.34 +/- 7.64) mothers (p ≤ 0.001). Mothers also reported making their decision to breastfeed their infant usually before pregnancy (52.5%) or within the first trimester (31.1%). Education about the importance of breastfeeding may need to target women of child bearing years in attempt to influence their breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes prior to their becoming pregnant.