Breastfeeding Trends in Louisiana: Are We Improving?

1
Breastfeeding Trends in Louisiana Are We
Improving?

• Ashley Chin, PhD, MPH, MA
• Dionka Pierce, MPH
• Tri Tran, MD, MPH
• Louisiana Office of Public Health

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Background

• Breastfeeding is universally recognized as the
  best method of infant feeding.
• There are benefits to the child, mother and to
  society.
• Breastfeeding rates in the US are among the
  lowest in industrialized societies.
• Breastfeeding rates in Louisiana are among the
  lowest in the US.

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Breastfeeding Initiation
2003 National Immunization Survey 2003 LA PRAMS
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Breastfeeding at 6 Months
2003 National Immunization Survey 2003 LA PRAMS
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Study Questions

• Is the percentage of Louisiana mothers initiating
  breastfeeding increasing over time?
• Is the percentage of Louisiana mothers continuing
  to breastfeed for 6 months increasing over time?

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Methods

• Louisiana Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring
  System (LA PRAMS)
• 1998-2003
• Limited to black and white women (n11,318)
• One-sided Kendalls Tau b
• Actuarial Life Table
• SAS 9.1 and SUDAAN version 9.1
• Alpha set at 0.05 for statistical significance

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Breastfeeding Initiation in Louisiana 1998-2003
p value for trend All ns White ns Black
0.05
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Breastfeeding at 6 Months in Louisiana 1998-2003
p value for trend All ns White ns Black
ns
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Public Health Implications

• Louisiana will fail to meet the Health People
  2010 goals for breastfeeding initiation and
  duration.
• Increased healthcare cost of formula fed infants.
• Increased risk of maternal cancers.
• Increased risk of maternal and infant obesity.

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Recommendations
Evaluate
Coordinate
Strengthen
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Limitations

• Recall bias
• Response bias
• Low response rates

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Acknowledgements

• Dionka Pierce, MPH, LA PRAMS Coordinator
• Tri Tran, MD, MPH, MCH Epidemiologist
• Aledia Williams, Breastfeeding Coordinator,
  Louisiana WIC
• Meshawn Tarver, Breastfeeding Program
  Coordinator, Tulane-Xavier National Center of
  Excellence in Womens Health