Table 1.
Demographic, reproductive, and lifestyle characteristics of mother–infant dyads by full breastfeeding duration (n = 338).
| Participant Characteristics | Full Breastfeeding Duration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1–3 Months (n = 23) | 3–6 Months (n = 63) | ≥6-Months (n = 252) | ||
| n (%) or mean ± SD | p-Value | ||||
| Maternal Age, years | 30.8 ± 4.1 | 28.7 ± 4.9 | 30.7 ± 4.1 | 31.0 ± 4.0 | 0.03 * |
| Maternal Race | |||||
| White | 288 (87) | 14 (64) | 51 (82) | 223 (90) | |
| Other | 44 (13) | 8 (36) | 11 (18) | 25 (10) | <0.01 * |
| Maternal Education | |||||
| High school /GED/Associates degree | 74 (23) | 10 (44) | 11 (19) | 53 (22) | |
| Bachelor’s degree | 135 (41) | 9 (39) | 27 (47) | 99 (40) | |
| Graduate degree | 117 (36) | 4 (17) | 19 (33) | 94 (38) | 0.09 |
| Household income | |||||
| <$60,000 | 99 (30) | 11 (48) | 22 (39) | 66 (27) | |
| $60,000–90,000 | 80 (25) | 4 (17) | 15 (26) | 61 (25) | |
| >90,000 | 147 (45) | 8 (35) | 20 (35) | 119 (48) | 0.11 |
| Parity | |||||
| 0 | 141 (42) | 13 (59) | 21 (35) | 107 (43) | |
| 1 | 128 (39) | 4 (18) | 29 (48) | 95 (38) | |
| ≥2 | 63 (19) | 5 (23) | 10 (17) | 48 (19) | 0.17 |
| Delivery Mode | |||||
| Vaginal | 264 (80) | 17 (77) | 50 (81) | 197 (79) | 0.94 |
| Caesarean section | 68 (20) | 5 (23) | 12 (19) | 51 (21) | |
| Prepregnancy BMI, kg/m2 | 26.5 ± 5.6 | 28.1 ± 5.3 | 26.9 ± 6.9 | 26.2 ± 5.2 | 0.24 |
| Gestational weight gain (kg) | 12.3 ± 6.6 | 12.2 ± 8.8 | 11.7 ± 7.0 | 12.5 ± 6.3 | 0.69 |
| Postpartum weight retention (kg) | |||||
| 1-month | 3.9 ± 5.4 | 4.2 ± 7.2 | 3.2 ± 6.5 | 4.0 ± 5.0 | 0.56 |
| 3-months | 2.8 ± 5.5 | 4.6 ± 7.9 | 1.9 ± 6.4 | 2.8 ± 4.9 | 0.13 |
| 6-months | 1.4 ± 5.9 | 4.3 ± 7.8 | 0.9 ± 6.4 | 1.2 ± 5.5 | 0.05 * |
| HEI-2015 score at 1-month postpartum | 65.6 ± 8.9 | 64.8 ± 9.6 | 63.7 ± 6.3 | 66.4 ± 8.9 | 0.16 |
| Energy intake at 1-month postpartum (kcal) | 1952 ± 761 | 1666 ± 770 | 1889 ± 633 | 1975 ± 666 | 0.14 |
| Meets MVPA guidelines at 3-months postpartum (yes) | 178 (54) | 13 (62) | 25 (40) | 140 (57) | 0.06 |
| Frequency of feeds (per day) | |||||
| 1-month | 9.7 ± 2.1 | 9.4 ± 2.3 | 9.4 ± 2.0 | 9.8 ± 2.1 | 0.44 |
| 3-months | 7.6 ± 2.1 | 4.6 ± 2.1 | 7.8 ± 2.0 | 7.7 ± 1.9 | <0.01 * |
| 6-months | 6.8 ± 2.1 | 3.6 ± 1.8 | 6.0 ± 2.8 | 7.1 ± 1.7 | <0.01 * |
| Breastfeeding status at 6 months postpartum | |||||
| Fully breastfeeding | 252 (74) | 252 (100) | <0.01 * | ||
| Mixed-feeding | 57 (17) | 11 (48) | 46 (73) | ||
| Fully formula feeding | 29 (9) | 12 (52) | 17 (27) | ||
| Infant birthweight, (g) | 3534 ± 445 | 3329 ± 482 | 3620 ± 425 | 3530 ± 442 | 0.03 * |
| Infant sex | |||||
| Male | 172 (51) | 10 (43) | 38 (60) | 124 (49) | 0.22 |
| Female | 166 (49) | 13 (57) | 25 (40) | 128 (51) | |
Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index; HEI-2015 = Healthy Eating Index-2015; meeting MVPA guidelines: Moderate to vigorous physical activity >150 min/week. * p < 0.05 for tests of differences in participant characteristics by full breastfeeding duration using chi-square or one-way ANOVA for categorical and continuous variables, respectively.