Factors Associated With Cessation of Exclusive Breastfeeding at 1 and 2 Months Postpartum in Taiwan
Factors Associated With Cessation of Exclusive Breastfeeding at 1 and 2 Months Postpartum in Taiwan
Factors Associated With Cessation of Exclusive Breastfeeding at 1 and 2 Months Postpartum in Taiwan
Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding benefits both mothers and infants. Even though Taiwan national policy promotes
exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), the rates in Taiwan are below those in other developed countries. This study aimed
to investigate factors associated with EBF cessation at 1 and 2 months postpartum.
Methods: This study was conducted in a community hospital in southern Taiwan between December 2016 and
June 2017. Birth mothers (n = 1077) were interviewed by telephone at 1 and 2 months postpartum to collect
information on infant feeding patterns (EBF since birth or not) and reasons for EBF cessation. Multivariate
logistic regression models were used to determine risk factors associated with EBF cessation at 1 and 2 months.
Results: At 1 month, 432 participants (40.1%) maintained EBF. Factors associated with cessation were lack of tertiary
education, primiparity, perceived low milk quantity, mother/infant separation, medical condition in mother,
inconvenience/fatigue due to breastfeeding, and baby-centered factors. At 2 months, 316 participants (29.3%)
maintained EBF. Factors associated with cessation were lack of tertiary education, primiparity, perceived low
milk quantity, and return to work.
Conclusions: Education level, primiparity, perceived low milk quantity, and return to work are associated
with premature cessation of EBF in Taiwan. Strategies about health education, family support, and baby-mother
friendly environment can be used to achieve higher EBF rate.
Keywords: Breastfeeding cessation, Exclusive breastfeeding, Risk factors
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Chang et al. International Breastfeeding Journal (2019) 14:18 Page 2 of 7
difficulties with lactation, concerns about infant weight Demographic data included gestational age, nationality,
gain, sickness in mothers or babies and having to take mode of birth, education level, and parity. Breastfeeding
medicine, and problems with milk expression [13]. status at 1 and 2 months postpartum were also recorded:
Other factors related to EBF cessation included younger either EBF and non-EBF (classified as ‘fully formula feed-
maternal age [14], lower maternal educational level [14], ing’ or ‘partial breastfeeding’) since birth. Mothers who
unplanned pregnancy [15], maternal work outside the stopped breastfeeding before two months were also
home [15–17], and lack of emotional support, especially questioned about the time of weaning and the reason
from the baby’s father [18]. they discontinued all breastfeeding.
In the Global Targets 2025, the WHO and UNICEF Ten categories addressing the main reasons for cessa-
have set a goal that in 2025 at least 50% of infants will tion of EBF were developed based on previous studies
be breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months [19]. In [22–24]. These were: (1) “Perceived low milk quantity” de-
Taiwan, pregnant women tend to work near the ex- fined as mother’s self-reported perception that the infant
pected date of childbirth, and then have eight weeks of was not getting enough milk and was showing signs of
official maternity leave [20]. To improve the EBF rate in hunger; (2) “Sore breasts or nipples / Too painful” defined
Taiwan, it is imperative to identify the possible reasons as painful nipples, general or unspecified breastfeeding
mothers stop EBF. Studies regarding social demographic, pain, sore breasts, engorgement, breast pain, mastitis or
mother-baby conditions, and work-related factors associ- other breast infection, and biting; (3) “Mother/infant sep-
ated with cessation of EBF are limited. Only Lee et al. aration” defined as reduction or cessation of breastfeeding
[12] has reported that certain environmental factors may due to mother and baby not living together, baby being
be positively associated with EBF, including breastfeed- cared by grandparents, or other similar issues; (4) “Mater-
ing rooms in public places or workplaces and delivery in nal choice” or parent’s decision to stop breastfeeding with
baby-friendly hospitals. Chen et al. found that among no further explanation; (5) “Breastfeeding skills were not
immigrant mothers, breastfeeding experience of mothers- effective” defined as problems with breastfeeding tech-
in-law and the perceived level of acceptance of nique, being uncomfortable with the act or connotations
breastfeeding in Taiwan were positively associated with of breastfeeding, and other uncertainties regarding breast-
EBF at 3 months postpartum [21]. However, neither of feeding ability as evaluated by specialized nurses; (6)
these studies explored factors associated with mothers’ “Mother’s medical condition” which included references
reasons for stopping EBF. Therefore, this study aimed to to medical conditions not related to breastfeeding as well
investigate factors associated with cessation of EBF at 1 as the advice of a doctor or healthcare professional; (7)
and 2 months postpartum in Taiwan. “Inconvenience/fatigue due to breastfeeding” related to
breastfeeding being tiring or demanding for the mother as
Methods well as lack of time to breastfeed while caring for other
Study design children; (8) “Return to work” where the mother returned
This study enrolled postpartum women who had been to work or planned to do so; (9) “Baby-centered factors”
maternity patients in the Obstetrics Department of Dit- defined as problems with latching, infant drowsiness, go-
manson Medical Foundation, Chiayi Christian Hospital ing too long between feedings, the infant refusing to
(CYCH), Chiayi, Taiwan from December 2016 to June breastfeed/nipple confusion, the infant being fussy or frus-
2017. The hospital participates in the Baby-Friendly trated at the frequency or length of breastfeeding, the in-
Hospital Initiative (BFHI), which requires patients to re- fant not feeding properly, and other difficulties of feeding
spond to a postnatal survey. Inclusion criteria were that at the breast; and (10) “Baby’s medical condition” which
mothers aged over 20 years old, who gave birth after 24 included references to medical conditions not related to
gestational weeks, and delivered babies in this hospital. breastfeeding as well as the advice of a doctor or health-
Mothers with medical contraindications for breastfeed- care professional. The participants rated whether they had
ing, with babies who required intensive care monitoring, the problems (yes/no response), and more than one rea-
or with babies who had malformations that interfered son could be given for stopping breastfeeding.
with breastfeeding were excluded. Birth mothers were
followed up via a telephone interview at 1 and 2 months Statistical analysis
postpartum to assess their infant’s feeding patterns and In this study, continuous variables were presented as the
mothers’ reasons for breastfeeding cessation. mean ± standard deviation (SD), and categorical data by
percentages. Student’s t test was used to test the differ-
Data collection ences in continuous variables between the participants
A specialized nurse who had midwifery, breastfeeding, with EBF and those with non-EBF, and chi-square test
and infant care knowledge interviewed all postpartum for categorical variables. Multivariate logistic regression
women about their breastfeeding practices by phone. analysis was used to determine which risk factors were
Chang et al. International Breastfeeding Journal (2019) 14:18 Page 3 of 7
significantly associated with breastfeeding cessation at 1 milk quantity (n = 435, 40.39%), maternal choice (n = 94,
and 2 months postpartum. The status of EBF was con- 8.73%) and return to work/school (n = 39, 3.62%).
sidered as the dependent variable, and the significant
variables in the univariate analyses were entered as pre- Non-exclusive breastfeeding factors
dictors. All variables with p < 0.05 in the bivariate ana- Univariate analyses of all variables (i.e., sociodemo-
lysis were included in the model and those outside this graphic factors, mode of birth, and reasons for breast-
range excluded. Variables were entered into the model feeding cessation) that could possibly be associated with
stepwise, with entry criterion of 0.05 and removal criter- EBF cessation at 1 and 2 months postpartum are shown
ion of 0.10. The sample size was calculated based the in Table 2. Factors related to the cessation of EBF at 1
formula: N = 10 K/P, where K represents the numbers of month were mothers’ higher age, cesarean birth, having
independent variables and P represents the proportion no college degree, primiparity, perceived low milk quan-
of positive cases in the population [25]. There were 15 tity, mother/infant separation, maternal choice, mothers’
independent variables (including demographic character- medical condition, inconvenience/fatigue due to breast-
istics and reasons). The proportion, calculated as the feeding, and baby-centered factors.
rate of EBF at 3 months postpartum, was 0.44 [11], and a Factors related to the cessation of EBF at 2 month
minimum number of cases was 340. All statistical ana- were mothers’ higher age, cesarean birth, having no col-
lyses were performed with SPSS for Windows version lege degree, primiparity, perceived low milk quantity,
21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). A 2-tailed p-value maternal choice, inconvenience/fatigue due to breast-
of equal to or less than 0.05 was considered as statisti- feeding, and return to work. Maternal choice at 1 and 2
cally significant. months and inconvenience/fatigue due to breastfeeding
at 2 month were not entered in multivariate logistic re-
Results gression analysis due to the extreme proportion in EBF
Baseline characteristics of the participants vs. non-EBF.
A total of 1077 participants were recruited, and their
demographic and clinical characteristics are described in Multivariate logistic regression analysis
Table 1. The mean age was 32.0 years (SD = 5.0). At 1 Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that fac-
month postpartum, 40.1% of mothers maintained EBF, tors related to EBF cessation at 1 month included having
which fell to 29.3% at 2 months postpartum. no college degree (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] = 1.63, 95%
confidence interval [CI] = 1.13, 2.35), primiparity (AOR
Reasons for breastfeeding cessation = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.07, 2.19), perceived low milk quantity
The most frequent reasons given for breastfeeding cessa- (AOR = 65.35, 95% CI = 38.74, 110.26), mother/infant
tion in the first month were perceived low milk quantity separation (AOR = 5.46, 95% CI = 2.49, 11.98), mother’s
(n = 471, 43.73%), baby-centered factors (n = 76, 7.06%), medical condition (AOR = 12.62, 95% CI = 3.53, 45.11),
and maternal choice (n = 75, 6.96%). In the second month, inconvenience/fatigue due to breastfeeding (AOR =
the reasons for breastfeeding cessation were perceived low 14.27, 95% CI = 3.04, 66.96), and baby-centered factors
(AOR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.03, 4.36).
Table 1 Sample characteristics Mean ± SD or, N (%) Factors related to EBF cessation at 2 month included
Mean ± SD or N (%) having no college degree (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.24,
Total 1077 2.49), primiparity (AOR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.62, 3.21), per-
Age 32.0 ± 5.0 ceived low milk quantity (AOR = 212.38, 95% CI = 52.38,
Country of birth 861.17), and return to work (AOR = 10.61, 95% CI =
3.19, 35.33) (see Tables 3 and 4).
Born in Taiwan 1013 (94.1)
Education
Discussion
College degree 684 (63.5) To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to
Parity investigate the reasons for EBF cessation at 1 and 2
Primiparity 490 (45.5) months postpartum in Taiwan. The present study
Mode of birth showed that the rates of EBF at the end of the first and
second months postbirth were 40.1 and 29.3%, respect-
Cesarean 297 (27.6)
ively. Education level, primiparity, perceived low milk
EBF
quantity, and return to work were associated with the
1 month 432 (40.1) cessation of EBF.
2 months 316 (29.3) Perceived low milk quantity was the most common
EBF Exclusive breastfeeding problem for cessation of EBF in the present study, which
Chang et al. International Breastfeeding Journal (2019) 14:18 Page 4 of 7
Table 2 Univariate analysis of factors associated with non-exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month and 2 months
1 month 2 months
EBF FF/PBF p-value EBF FF/ PBF p-value
(n = 432) (n = 645) (n = 316) (n = 761)
Age 31.47 ± 4.80 32.28 ± 5.12 0.010 31.38 ± 4.63 32.33 ± 5.21 0.002
Country of birth 0.540 0.432
Born in Taiwan (n = 1013) 404 (39.88) 609 (60.12) 300 (29.62) 713 (70.38)
Born Overseas (n = 64) 28 (43.75) 36 (56.25) 16 (29.69) 48 (70.31)
Mode of Birth 0.049 0.049
Cesarean (n = 297) 105 (35.35) 192 (64.65) 74 (24.92) 223 (75.08)
Vaginal (n = 780) 327 (41.92) 453 (58.08) 242 (31.03) 538 (68.97)
College degree 0.008 0.002
No (n = 393) 137 (33.33) 256 (66.67) 93 (23.66) 300 (76.34)
Yes (n = 684) 295 (43.13) 389 (58.87) 223 (32.60) 461 (67.40)
Parity < 0.001 < 0.001
Primiparity (n = 490) 158 (32.24) 332 (67.76) 103 (21.02) 387 (78.98)
Multiparity (n = 587) 274 (46.68) 313 (53.32) 213 (36.29) 374 (63.71)
Reasons for breastfeeding cessation
Perceived low milk quantity 17 (3.61) 454 (96.39) < 0.001 2 (0.46) 433 (99.54) < 0.001
Sore breasts or nipples / Too painful 19 (30.16) 44 (69.84) 0.097 4 (25.00) 12 (75.00) 0.701
Mother/infant separation 10 (21.28) 37 (78.72) 0.007 2 (33.33) 4 (66.67) 0.829
Maternal choice 1 (1.33) 74 (98.67) < 0.001 1 (1.06) 93 (98.94) < 0.001
The skill of breastfeeding is not effective 21 (37.50) 35 (62.50) 0.682 7 (30.43) 16 (69.57) 0.907
Medical condition in mother 3 (10.71) 25 (89.29) 0.001 4 (14.81) 23 (85.19) 0.093
Inconvenience/fatigue due to breastfeeding 2 (11.11) 16 (88.89) 0.011 0 (0.00) 15 (100.00) 0.012
Returned to work/school 2 (25.00) 6 (75.00) 0.381 3 (7.69) 36 (92.31) 0.002
Baby-centered factors 18 (23.68) 58 (76.32) 0.002 12 (34.29) 23 (65.71) 0.514
Medical condition in baby 31 (44.29) 39 (55.71) 0.461 7 (25.00) 21 (75.00) 0.609
EBF Exclusive breastfeeding, FF Formula feeding, PBF Partial breastfeeding
is consistent with the results of previous studies that nu- breastfeeding difficulties, worried about their ability to
tritional factors played an important role in breastfeed- produce a sufficient quantity of milk [27]. Through
ing cessation [23, 24, 26, 27]. Wagner et al. [24] reported appropriate education, most mothers can overcome tem-
that problems with low milk quantity usually occur porary breastfeeding problems without resorting to sup-
within the first two weeks postpartum, and Teich et al. plementation Attending prenatal classes that address
[26] also showed that the most common barrier during such issues as low milk supply and other lactational
the early postpartum period was the mother’s perception factors may enhance women’s self-efficacy and the
of inadequate milk supply. In a study by Li et al., over intention to breastfeed longer [23, 28].
50% of mothers stated they stopped breastfeeding at one In the present study, multiparous mothers who had a
or two months postpartum because they did not think college degree tended to be exclusively breastfeeding
they had enough milk [22]. Lewallen and colleagues EBF at 1 and 2 months, which may relate to knowledge
found that around 30% of the mothers stopped EBF be- and experience. Perrine et al. found that approximately
fore eight weeks postpartum, and the most common rea- 68% of women stopped EBF for personal reasons, with-
son was a perception of insufficient milk supply. This out explaining further [30]. Even though those mothers
concern led to formula supplementation and then did not disclose their reasons for stopping EBF, factors
breastfeeding cessation [28] and supports the finding such as maternal perceptions of hospital staff attitude,
that when mothers lack confidence to provide enough nipple soreness, breast engorgement, infant’s restless-
milk for babies, they tend to stop breastfeeding [29]. ness, doubts about sufficient breast milk and beliefs re-
A related study has shown that mothers who lacked garding early termination of breastfeeding may be some
knowledge about the normal lactation process or of the underlying reasons. Lack of knowledge on the part
Chang et al. International Breastfeeding Journal (2019) 14:18 Page 5 of 7
Table 3 Multivariate logistic regression with factors associated with cessation of exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month
Crude OR p-value Adjusted OR p-value
Age 1.03 (1.01, 1.06) 0.010 1.03 (1.00, 1.07) 0.094
Mode of birth 0.050 0.411
Cesarean 1.32 (1.00, 1.74) 1.18 (0.80, 1.74)
Vaginal 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
College degree 0.008 0.009
No 1.42 (1.10, 1.83) 1.63 (1.13, 2.35)
Yes 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Parity < 0.001 0.021
Primiparity 1.84 (1.43, 2.36) 1.53 (1.07, 2.19)
Multiparity 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Perceived low milk quantity
Yes 58.03 (34.72, 96.98) < 0.001 65.35 (38.74, 110.26) < 0.001
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Mother/infant separation
Yes 2.57 (1.26, 5.22) 0.009 5.46 (2.49, 11.98) < 0.001
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Medical condition in mother
Yes 5.76 (1.73, 19.22) 0.004 12.62 (3.53, 45.11) < 0.001
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Inconvenience/fatigue due to breastfeeding
Yes 5.47 (1.25, 23.91) 0.024 14.27 (3.04, 66.96) 0.001
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Baby-centered factors
Yes 2.27 (1.32, 3.91) 0.003 2.12 (1.03, 4.36) 0.041
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Table 4 Multivariate logistic regression with factors associated with cessation of exclusive breastfeeding at 2 months
Crude OR p-value Adjusted OR p-value
Age 1.03 (1.01, 1.06) 0.020 1.03 (0.99, 1.07) 0.098
Mode of birth 0.050 0.107
Cesarean 1.36 (1.01, 1.84) 1.36 (0.94, 1.98)
Vaginal 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
College degree 0.002 0.001
No 1.56 (1.18, 2.07) 1.76 (1.24, 2.49)
Yes 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Parity < 0.001 < 0.001
Primiparity 2.14 (1.63, 2.82) 2.28 (1.62, 3.21)
Multiparity 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Perceived low milk quantity
Yes 207.26 (51.23, 838.54) < 0.001 212.38 (52.38, 861.17) < 0.001
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Returned to work
Yes 3.17 (1.39, 7.25) 0.006 10.61 (3.19, 35.33) < 0.001
No 1.00 (ref.) 1.00 (ref.)
Chang et al. International Breastfeeding Journal (2019) 14:18 Page 6 of 7
of healthcare providers in approaching the problems re- southern Taiwan, which may limit the generalizability of
lated to breastfeeding is reported to be another main the results to other populations and settings. Finally, this
reason, and women who had professional or lay support study only evaluated breastfeeding status up to two
for breastfeeding were more apt to continue EBF [31]. months postpartum. Therefore, our results cannot be
Therefore, to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates in compared to other studies evaluating breastfeeding dur-
Taiwan, pregnant women could be given breastfeeding ation over longer time periods.
education during the antenatal period and breastfeeding
care and help from specialized nurses during the early Conclusion
postpartum period. The training may increase mothers’ The EBF rate is still relatively low in Taiwan. Premature
confidence in their ability to breastfeed and therefore re- cessation of EBF was associated with not having a col-
sult in a higher rate of EBF [32, 33]. Although a previous lege degree, parity, perceived low milk quantity, mother/
randomized controlled study that compared two inter- infant separation, personal decision, inconvenience due
ventions (1.5-h for practical skills or 2-h for attitude) to breastfeeding, and return to work. Based on these
and a control group did not increase breastfeeding dur- findings, defining strategies that influence modifiable
ation at 6 months postpartum [34], some researchers factors related to breastfeeding and promoting the pro-
suggest that a multi-methods intervention may achieve a tective factors provided by breast milk may help increase
longer duration of EBF [33, 35]. For example, a combin- breastfeeding rates in Taiwan. These may include health
ation of prenatal maternal education on the benefits of education for improving knowledge and skills, family
EBF and ways to overcome barriers to breastfeeding, support for reducing mothers’ burden, and continuous
combined with the provision of workplace and hospital support for baby-mother friendly environment and pol-
breastfeeding rooms and specific policies to support and icies in workplaces and the community. These strategies
encourage breastfeeding [35]. may be effective in reaching the WHO Global Target
In the present study, mother/infant separation was a 2025 of 50% of infants being exclusively breastfed to six
significant factor at one month. In Taiwan, some new months of age.
mothers stay at postpartum care centers from two to
Abbreviations
four weeks, some mothers cannot live together with
EBF: Exclusive breastfeeding; FF: Formula feeding; PBF: Partial breastfeeding
their babies because of accommodation reason, or babies
were cared for by grandparents. However, a return to Acknowledgements
work was significantly associated with cessation of EBF The authors gratefully acknowledge all the mothers who participated in this
study.
only at two months postpartum. The official maternity
leave in Taiwan is eight weeks, and most mothers have Funding
to decide whether return to work and arrange the care This article has not received funding from either public or private
institutions.
of their baby, including breastfeeding.
Our findings are consistent with the results of previ- Availability of data and materials
ous studies [13, 36, 37]. Bai et al. [36] showed that only Data used in this study are available upon reasonable request. Please contact
one-third of women maintained breastfeeding after two the corresponding author for data requests.