Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Jun;4(2):83-9.
doi: 10.1089/bfm.2008.0119.

An examination of attitudes, knowledge, and clinical practices among Pennsylvania pediatricians regarding breastfeeding and smoking

Cynthia A Lucero  1 , Deborah R Moss, Erin D Davies, Kathleen Colborn, Wesley C Barnhart, Debra L Bogen
Affiliations

An examination of attitudes, knowledge, and clinical practices among Pennsylvania pediatricians regarding breastfeeding and smoking

Cynthia A Lucero et al. Breastfeed Med. 2009 Jun.

Abstract

Background and objective: The most recent American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement clearly supports breastfeeding for smoking mothers. The impact of this recommendation on pediatricians' counseling and prescribing practices is unclear. This study describes Pennsylvania pediatricians' attitudes, knowledge, and practices regarding breastfeeding, maternal smoking, and smoking cessation.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted using a web-based, anonymous survey. The survey consisted of three clinical vignettes followed by knowledge and attitude questions.

Results: Among 296 respondents, more than half reported one or more conversations about breastfeeding and smoking in the past year. Most were comfortable counseling on breastfeeding, but few were comfortable counseling about smoking and breastfeeding. Respondents scored poorly on five knowledge items; 27% answered zero items correctly, and only 21% answered four or five items correctly. Less than half reported breastfeeding was safe for smoking mothers. Compared to pediatricians with high knowledge scores, those with a low score were less likely to tell a smoking mother that breastfeeding is safe (38% vs. 69%, p < 0.01) and more likely to recommend formula feeding (19% vs. 3%, p < 0.01). Most pediatricians were uncertain about the safety of nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion (Zyban, GalxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC) with breastfeeding.

Conclusions: Pennsylvania pediatricians lack knowledge and comfort related to the topic of breastfeeding and maternal smoking. Additional efforts to inform and educate pediatricians on the subjects of breastfeeding, maternal tobacco use, and smoking cessation products are needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Familiarity with breastfeeding guidelines in a breastfeeding and smoking survey of Pennsylvania pediatricians in 2005 (n = 296).
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Counseling comfort (self-reported scale of 1–10) in a breastfeeding and smoking survey of Pennsylvania pediatricians in 2005 (n = 296).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ever-Hadani P. Seidman DS. Manor O, et al. Breast feeding in Israel: Maternal factors associated with choice and duration. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1994;48:281–285. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Edwards N. Sims-Jones N. Breithaupt K. Smoking in pregnancy and postpartum: Relationship to mothers' choices concerning infant nutrition. Can J Nurs Res. 1998;30:83–98. - PubMed
    1. Horta BL. Kramer MS. Platt RW. Maternal smoking and the risk of early weaning: A meta-analysis. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:304–307. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu J. Rosenberg KD. Sandoval AP. Breastfeeding duration and perinatal smoking in a population-cased cohort. Am J Public Health. 2006;96:309–314. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Giglia RC. Binns CW. Alfonso HS, et al. Which mothers smoke before, during and after pregnancy? Public Health. 2007;121:942–949. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms