Prenatal Perception of WIC Breastfeeding Recommendations Predicts Breastfeeding Exclusivity and Duration in the Infants' First Year

Background Pregnant participants who perceived that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recommends breastfeeding only were more likely to have better early breastfeeding outcomes. Objectives Our objective was to examine the association between prenatal perception of WIC's breastfeeding recommendations and breastfeeding duration through the first year of infant life. Methods This observational study used a national longitudinal sample of 1594 pregnant participants in the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 in 2013. Four measures of breastfeeding duration were used: 1) a discrete measure of exclusive breastfeeding through 5 mo; 2) a continuous measure of exclusive breastfeeding (in days up to 7 mo); 3) a discrete measure of any breastfeeding through 11 mo; and 4) a continuous measure of any breastfeeding (in days up to 13 mo). The primary explanatory variable was the participant's prenatal perception of whether WIC recommended breastfeeding only. The univariate analyses of time to breastfeeding cessation were performed using Kaplan-Meier curves. The Cox regression model was adopted to estimate the likelihood of breastfeeding outcomes over time. All analyses accounted for complex survey design effects. Results Compared with their peers who perceived WIC to recommend formula only or both breastfeeding and formula equally, participants who perceived WIC as recommending breastfeeding only were less likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding through 5 mo (HR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.99) or to stop any breastfeeding through 11 mo (HR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.92), without controlling for prenatal infant feeding intentions. Similar patterns were observed in the 2 continuous measures, as they were also less likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding by 7 mo (HR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.90) or to stop any breastfeeding by 13 mo (HR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.95). Conclusions Prenatal perception of WIC's breastfeeding recommendation can be a useful predictor of breastfeeding duration in WIC participants.