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
Observational Study
. 2023 Jan 14;152(12):2931-2940.
doi: 10.1093/jn/nxac221.

Prenatal Perception of WIC Breastfeeding Recommendations Predicts Breastfeeding Exclusivity and Duration in the Infants' First Year

Qi Zhang  1 , Kelin Li  2 , Kathryn Wouk  3 , Rajan Lamichhane  4 , Joanne Guthrie  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Prenatal Perception of WIC Breastfeeding Recommendations Predicts Breastfeeding Exclusivity and Duration in the Infants' First Year

Qi Zhang et al. J Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Pregnant participants who perceived that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recommends breastfeeding only were more likely to have better early breastfeeding outcomes.

Objectives: Our objective was to examine the association between prenatal perception of WIC's breastfeeding recommendations and breastfeeding duration through the first year of infant life.

Methods: This observational study used a national longitudinal sample of 1594 pregnant participants in the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 in 2013. Four measures of breastfeeding duration were used: 1) a discrete measure of exclusive breastfeeding through 5 mo; 2) a continuous measure of exclusive breastfeeding (in days up to 7 mo); 3) a discrete measure of any breastfeeding through 11 mo; and 4) a continuous measure of any breastfeeding (in days up to 13 mo). The primary explanatory variable was the participant's prenatal perception of whether WIC recommended breastfeeding only. The univariate analyses of time to breastfeeding cessation were performed using Kaplan-Meier curves. The Cox regression model was adopted to estimate the likelihood of breastfeeding outcomes over time. All analyses accounted for complex survey design effects.

Results: Compared with their peers who perceived WIC to recommend formula only or both breastfeeding and formula equally, participants who perceived WIC as recommending breastfeeding only were less likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding through 5 mo (HR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.99) or to stop any breastfeeding through 11 mo (HR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.92), without controlling for prenatal infant feeding intentions. Similar patterns were observed in the 2 continuous measures, as they were also less likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding by 7 mo (HR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.90) or to stop any breastfeeding by 13 mo (HR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.95).

Conclusions: Prenatal perception of WIC's breastfeeding recommendation can be a useful predictor of breastfeeding duration in WIC participants.

Keywords: WIC; breastfeeding duration; infants; perception; prenatal.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Survival curve of exclusive breastfeeding (discrete measurement) in WIC ITFPS-2 participants through 5 mo (n = 1672). BF, breastfeeding; HD, hospital discharge; ITFPS-2, Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2; WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Survival curve of any breastfeeding (discrete measurement) in WIC ITFPS-2 participants through 11 mo (n = 1394). BF, breastfeeding; HD, hospital discharge; ITFPS-2, Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2; WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Survival curve of exclusive breastfeeding (continuous measurement) in WIC ITFPS-2 participants through 7 mo (n = 1792). BF, breastfeeding; ITFPS-2, Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2; WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Survival curve of any breastfeeding (continuous measurement) in WIC ITFPS-2 participants through 13 mo (n = 1338). BF, breastfeeding; ITFPS-2, Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2; WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. USDA, Food and Nutrition Service . WIC breastfeeding support. [Internet]. Alexandria (VA): Food and Nutrition Service; 2021; [cited April 25, 2022]. Available from: https://wicbreastfeeding.fns.usda.gov
    1. American Academy of Family Physicians. AAFP releases position paper on breastfeeding. Am Fam Physician. 2015;91(1):56–57.
    1. American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding . Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. 2012;129(3):e827–41. - PubMed
    1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists . ACOG Committee Opinion no. 756: optimizing support for breastfeeding as part of obstetric practice. Obstetrics Gynecol. 2018;132:e187–96. - PubMed
    1. Healthy People 2030. Increase the proportion of infants who are breastfed at 1 year. [Internet]. US Department of Health and Human Services ; 2022; [cited April 25, 2022]. Available from: https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/i...

Publication types