Unintentional pregnancy was associated with reduced intentions to breast feed
Question Will women who have an unintentional (mistimed or unwanted) pregnancy be less likely to breast feed their children?
Design
Cohort of women who had a live birth.
Setting
23 hospitals with maternity units in 15 counties in central New York State, USA.
Participants
All women who had a live birth from 1 January 1995 to 31 July 1996 (n=33 757) were eligible and 27 700 (82%) women provided data on breast feeding status and intentions of pregnancy.
Assessment of prognostic factors
Women were interviewed before discharge from hospital using the {New York State Perinatal Data Systems interview protocol}**. The pregnancies were reported to be planned (n=19 604) or unintentional (n=8096). Unintentional pregnancies comprised 6243 mistimed (the woman wanted to be pregnant at a later date) and 1853 unwanted pregnancies. …
