(124) Maternal Factors Impacting Exclusive Breastfeeding in a Normal Newborn Nursery

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months is recommended for its benefits to infant and maternal health. Despite this, only 25% of U.S. infants meet this benchmark. Maternal factors—such as gravidity, age, delivery method, and race/ethnicity—may influence EBF rates. Hispanic mothers, despite high initiation rates, often discontinue EBF earlier than others. Understanding these influences is critical to improving breastfeeding support and equity.

Objectives: 1. To assess the impact of maternal gravidity, age, marital status, and mode of delivery on exclusive breastfeeding rates.

2. To evaluate differences in exclusive breastfeeding rates by maternal race and ethnicity.

3. To identify maternal populations that may benefit from targeted breastfeeding support.

Design/Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 253 mother-infant pairs admitted to the normal newborn nursery at Creighton University Medical Center–Bergan Mercy in August 2023. Maternal factors assessed included age, marital status, mode of delivery, gravidity, race, and ethnicity. Feeding practices were categorized as EBF or formula-fed. Mothers with incomplete race (n=38), ethnicity (n=19), marital status (n=14), or gravidity (n=1) data were excluded from respective analyses. Chi-square tests with two-tailed p-values were used to assess associations.

Results: Primigravid mothers were significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed compared to multigravid mothers (p=0.046). No significant differences in EBF rates were found based on maternal age (p=0.99), marital status (p=0.39), or mode of delivery (p=0.99). Hispanic mothers were significantly less likely to exclusively breastfeed than non-Hispanic mothers (p=0.0002), a trend that remained significant when stratified by race (p=0.01). No significant differences in EBF rates were observed among racial groups (p=0.69), though limited sample sizes for some groups may have reduced statistical power.

Conclusions: This study highlights gravidity and maternal ethnicity as significant factors influencing EBF in a newborn nursery. Primigravid and non-Hispanic mothers were more likely to exclusively breastfeed. These findings suggest that tailored support for multigravid and Hispanic mothers may help improve EBF rates. Future research should explore the roles of education, employment, income, healthcare access, and cultural or familial influences in breastfeeding decisions. Targeted interventions addressing these factors may promote equitable breastfeeding outcomes across diverse maternal populations.