Peer Support and Breastfeeding Intentions Among Black WIC Participants

The purpose of this study was to identify what factors impact low-income women‘s infant feeding decisions. A cross-sectional convenience sample of 109 black pregnant women, ages 18 to 45, regularly attending Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) clinics and associated programs in the Inland Empire Region of California were recruited to complete a structured questionnaire about their breastfeeding beliefs and intentions. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore participant’s intentions to breastfeed. After adjusting for confounding factors, results indicate that women who attended support groups were more than twice as likely to intend to breastfeed compared with women who did not. These results highlight the importance of social influences on the decision to breastfeed, and indicate the need for broadened community-based education for the promotion of breastfeeding.