ArticleBMJ paediatrics open2023
Breastfeeding initiation and duration through the COVID-19 pandemic, a linked population-level routine data study: the Born in Wales Cohort 2018-2021.
Article in BMJ paediatrics open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trends in 1-Month Breastfeeding Before, During, and After the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Retrospective Single-Center Study in Japan.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Factors Associated With Breastfeeding Outcomes in Lebanon: A National Cross-Sectional Study.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Prenatal Breastfeeding Intention Is Consistently Associated with Breastfeeding Duration Among WIC-Participating Women.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Breastfeeding support during the Covid-19 pandemic in England: analysis of a national survey.BMC public health · 2024Article
- "I could not find the strength to resist the pressure of the medical staff, to refuse to give commercial milk formula": a qualitative study on effects of the war on Ukrainian women's infant feeding.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. This study aimed to examine the impact the pandemic had on breastfeeding uptake and duration, and whether intention to breastfeed is associated with longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding.
methodsA cohort study using routinely collected, linked healthcare data from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage databank. All women who gave birth in Wales between 2018 and 2021 recorded in the Maternal Indicators dataset were asked about intention to breastfeed. These data were linked with the National Community Child Health Births and Breastfeeding dataset to examine breastfeeding rates.
resultsIntention to breastfeed was associated with being 27.6 times more likely to continue to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months compared with those who did not intend to breastfeed (OR 27.6, 95% CI 24.9 to 30.7). Breastfeeding rates at 6 months were 16.6% prepandemic and 20.5% in 2020. When compared with a survey population, the initial intention to breastfeed/not breastfeed only changes for about 10% of women.
conclusionWomen were more likely to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months during the pandemic compared with before or after the pandemic. Arguably, interventions which enable families to spend more time with their baby such as maternal and paternal leave may help improve breastfeeding duration. The biggest predictor of breastfeeding at 6 months was intention to breastfeed. Therefore, targeted interventions during pregnancy to encourage motivation to breastfeed could improve duration of breastfeeding.
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