Table 5.

Cox proportional hazard of discontinuing any breast-feeding by 6 months and exclusive breast-feeding by 3 months according to BFI Program protocols

		Any breast-feeding adjusted†		Exclusive breast-feeding adjusted‡
Contacts with peer counsellor		(n 4077)		(n 2231)
In-person§	Phone||	HR	95 % CI	HR	95 % CI
Optimal	Less than optimal	0·29***	0·26, 0·32	0·50***	0·44, 0·57
Optimal	Optimal	1·00	–	1·00	–
Optimal	Greater than optimal	0·83*	0·69, 0·98	0·86	0·67, 1·10
Greater than optimal	Less than optimal	0·17***	0·14, 0·20	0·28***	0·23, 0·35
Greater than optimal	Optimal	0·53***	0·44, 0·63	0·56***	0·45, 0·71

BFI, Breastfeeding Initiative; HR, hazard ratio; WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

*P<0·05, **P<0·01, ***P<0·001.

^†Results adjusted for mother’s age, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, income level, WIC enrolment, residence, presence of other children in the household, previous breast-feeding experience, county of enrolment, and infant birth outcome and birth weight.

^‡Results adjusted for mother’s age, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, income level, WIC enrolment, presence of other children in the household, previous breast-feeding experience, county of enrolment, and infant birth outcome and birth weight.

^§In-person contacts include visits in the hospital after delivery and home visits. ‘Optimal’ is defined as 1–3 contacts regardless of time in programme.

^||The ‘optimal’ quantity of phone contacts is dependent on time in programme: <1 month=2–6 contacts; 1–3 months=4–8 contacts; 4–6 months=7–11 contacts; 7–9 months=10–14 contacts; >9 months=12–17 contacts.