Predicting mothers' choice of infant feeding method

Abstract

There is relatively little published research concerning the relationship between mothers' attitudes towards methods of feeding infants and their choice of breast-feeding or bottle-feeding as methods of feeding their own babies. The present study used Fishbein & Ajzen's theory of reasoned action to analyse the impact of the attitudes, perceived norms and beliefs of 50 primiparous mothers on (i) their intentions to breast-feed or bottle-feed, assessed antenatally; and (ii) their self-reported use of breast-feeding and bottle-feeding during the first six weeks of the baby's life. The findings were generally consistent with the theory of reasoned action. Attitudes to the infant feeding methods accounted for a large and significant amount of variation in infant feeding behaviour. However, there were some aspects of the findings that were not entirely consistent with the theory. Attitudes to behaviour contributed significantly and independently to the prediction of behaviour, and beliefs about the consequences of behaviour explained a near-significant amount of variation in intentions, beyond that already accounted for by attitudes and normative beliefs. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.