Table 1.
Exclusive and any breastfeeding rates for at least six months, by maternal characteristics, 2017–2018 Canadian Community Health Survey
| Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 monthsa | Any breastfeeding for at least 6 monthsa | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweighted N | Weighted rate | Unweighted N | Weighted rate | |
| Canada | 1617 | 35.6% (33.3%-37.8%) | 2885 | 62.2% (60.0%-64.4%) |
| Age | ||||
| 15–19b | ||||
| 20–24 | 69 | 24.6% (17.2%-32.0%)c | 117 | 36.6% (28.9%-44.3%) |
| 25–29 | 276 | 28.3% (23.8%-32.8%) | 524 | 56.6% (51.9%-61.4%) |
| 30–34 | 569 | 34.8% (31.2%-38.3%) | 1039 | 64.3% (60.8%-67.7%) |
| 35–39 | 487 | 40.5% (35.8%-45.2%) | 825 | 65.8% (61.3%-70.3%) |
| 40–44 | 189 | 41.6% (34.4%-48.7%) | 327 | 69.7% (63.3%-76.1%) |
| 45–55 | 22 | 36.1% (13.4%-58.7%)c | 41 | 47.6% (24.0%-71.1%)c |
| Region | ||||
| Newfoundland | 28 | 21.8% (13.3%-30.3%)c | 45 | 46.6% (33.4%-59.8%) |
| Prince Edward Island | 18 | 27.0% (15.0%-39.1%)c | 35 | 54.9% (40.6%-69.2%) |
| Nova Scotia | 48 | 27.7% (19.2%-36.3%)c | 85 | 50.5% (40.9%-60.1%) |
| New Brunswick | 33 | 39.5% (27.1%-51.8%)c | 58 | 57.1% (45.7%-68.6%) |
| Quebec | 246 | 26.1% (22.0%-30.2%) | 542 | 54.3% (50.0%-58.5%) |
| Ontario | 470 | 37.4% (32.9%-41.8%) | 815 | 64.6% (60.3%-69.0%) |
| Manitoba | 109 | 42.9% (34.7%-51.1%) | 184 | 65.6% (57.7%-73.5%) |
| Saskatchewan | 96 | 40.7% (31.4%-50.1%) | 147 | 60.5% (51.8%-69.3%) |
| Alberta | 264 | 33.5% (28.6%-38.4%) | 479 | 62.4% (57.1%-67.6%) |
| British Columbia | 247 | 51.3% (44.6%-58.0%) | 396 | 76.0% (71.1%-80.8%) |
| Yukon | 23 | 65.2% (48.2%-82.3%) | 38 | 90.1% (78.0%-100%) |
| Northwest Territories | 19 | 33.1% (19.1%-47.1%)c | 33 | 53.5% (38.3%-68.7%) |
| Nunavut | b | 28 | 33.9% (17.6%-50.2%)c | |
| Education – Respondent | ||||
| Less than high school | 82 | 25.6% (18.0%-33.2%)c | 159 | 46.8% (38.5%-55.0%) |
| High school graduate | 259 | 30.1% (25.2%-34.9%) | 452 | 50.9% (45.5%-56.3%) |
| Trade School/College | 549 | 31.4% (28.2%-34.6%) | 1020 | 57.1% (53.6%-60.7%) |
| Bachelors or higher | 714 | 42.9% (39.0%-46.8%) | 1229 | 74.1% (70.6%-77.5%) |
| Missing | b | 13 | 61.5% (36.4%-86.5%)c | |
| Population Group | ||||
| White | 1111 | 34.6% (32.2%-37.0%) | 2013 | 60.3% (57.9%-62.8%) |
| Black | 67 | 40.4% (28.9%-51.8%) | 110 | 69.7% (58.7%-80.6%) |
| East/Southeast Asian | 124 | 43.0% (35.1%-50.9%) | 203 | 66.0% (58.2%-73.9%) |
| South Asian | 72 | 35.4% (23.0%-47.8%)c | 110 | 61.4% (47.2%-75.6%) |
| Middle Eastern | 29 | 24.9% (13.6%-36.1%)c | 64 | 68.1% (53.2%-82.9%) |
| Latino | 27 | 42.0% (24.0%-60.0%)c | 55 | 72.2% (53.8%-90.6%) |
| Indigenous | 122 | 26.7% (19.4%-34.0%) | 215 | 51.2% (43.3%-59.1%) |
| Missing | 65 | 45.6% (32.9%-58.3%) | 115 | 78.7% (69.1%-88.3%) |
| Immigrant Status | ||||
| Non-immigrant | 1188 | 32.9% (30.5%-35.3%) | 2160 | 59.0% (56.6%-61.4%) |
| 5 years or less | 137 | 42.5% (32.6%-52.4%) | 214 | 65.4% (55.8%-74.9%) |
| 6 to 10 years | 123 | 45.3% (36.6%-54.1%) | 196 | 75.9% (68.2%-83.6%) |
| Greater than 10 years | 112 | 35.0% (26.5%-43.5%) | 217 | 63.1% (54.1%-72.1%) |
| Missing | 57 | 45.5% (31.9%-59.1%)c | 98 | 78.0% (68.6%-87.3%) |
| Residence | ||||
| Rural area | 385 | 30.8% (27.1%-34.5%) | 694 | 53.7% (49.6%-57.8%) |
| Population Centre | 1232 | 36.6% (33.9%-39.2%) | 2191 | 63.9% (61.4%-66.4%) |
| Marital Status | ||||
| Married | 1153 | 42.3% (39.4%-45.3%) | 1943 | 70.4% (67.6%-73.2%) |
| Living Common Law | 246 | 24.8% (20.8%-28.8%) | 527 | 50.2% (45.8%-54.5%) |
| Widowed, Divorced, Separated | 86 | 27.5% (20.4%-34.6%) | 160 | 56.4% (47.8%-65.1%) |
| Single, Never married | 132 | 17.5% (12.6%-22.5%) | 255 | 36.6% (30.3%-42.9%) |
| Perceived Mental Health | ||||
| Poor | 15 | 17.0% (6.5%-27.4%)c | 31 | 36.8% (21.5%-52.1%)c |
| Fair | 93 | 28.7% (21.3%-36.1%) | 159 | 49.7% (41.3%-58.2%) |
| Good | 389 | 36.4% (31.8%-41.1%) | 714 | 62.1% (57.7%-66.5%) |
| Very Good | 616 | 35.2% (31.5%-38.9%) | 1131 | 64.4% (60.9%-67.9%) |
| Excellent | 503 | 37.2% (33.1%-41.3%) | 849 | 62.8% (58.6%-67.0%) |
| Missingb | ||||
| Pre-Pregnancy BMI (kg/m2) | ||||
|
Underweight (< 18.5 kg/m2) |
73 | 34.7% (25.4%-44.0%) | 128 | 56.6% (46.5%-66.7%) |
|
Normal (18.5–24.9 kg/m2) |
882 | 39.4% (36.1%-42.7%) | 1555 | 67.8% (64.8%-70.8%) |
|
Overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2) |
301 | 29.8% (25.4%-34.2%) | 554 | 58.0% (53.1%-62.9%) |
|
Obese (> 30 kg/m2) |
162 | 25.6% (20.2%-31.0%) | 306 | 47.5% (40.8%-54.3%) |
| Missing | 199 | 40.5% (33.9%-47.2%) | 342 | 64.4% (57.6%-71.2%) |
| Co-sleep | ||||
| Daily | 699 | 45.6% (41.4%-49.9%) | 1159 | 73.4% (69.6%-77.1%) |
| Occasional | 419 | 33.1% (28.7%-37.4%) | 786 | 62.6% (58.3%-66.9%) |
| Never | 483 | 27.4% (24.4%-30.5%) | 918 | 50.6% (47.3%-53.9%) |
| Missing | 16 | 51.8% (22.1%-81.4%)c | 22 | 88.5% (75.5%-100%) |
| Smoking During Last three months of Pregnancy | ||||
| Any Smoking | 70 | 15.3% (9.7%-20.8%)c | 147 | 29.2% (22.7%-35.7%) |
| Never | 1547 | 37.3% (34.9%-39.6%)c | 2734 | 64.8% (62.5%-67.2%) |
| Missingb | ||||
For pre-pregnancy BMI although the Canadian guidelines are conventionally applied to individuals aged 18 and older, we applied them to five 17 year old respondents in our cohort. The CCHS defined co-sleeping as the baby and parent(s) sharing the same bed
N = Number of females reporting exclusive or any breastfeeding, Total cohort for any breastfeeding is 4,845 females and total cohort for exclusive breastfeeding is 4,741 females
a Data are presented as proportions (95% Confidence Intervals) unless otherwise specified
b Estimate has a coefficient of variation above 35 or sample size below 10
c Estimate has a coefficient of variation above 15 (interpret with caution)