Resumen
Breastfeeding is linked to a number of health related benefits among infants. Breastfeeding provides the ideal nutrition for infants, by promoting a higher IQ and protecting against childhood and adult diseases. Despite these health benefits, the rates of exclusive breastfeeding are still low in Malaysia. Intention to breastfeed is closely related to early initiation to breastfeed and could also be a predictor of longer duration of breastfeeding. The objectives of this study are to provide a descriptive analysis of the sociodemographic characteristics, breastfeeding intention and breastfeeding attitudes and determine predictors affecting breastfeeding intention among low-to-middle income women. A prospective cohort study was undertaken of mothers attending eight antenatal clinics run by the Ministry of Health in Selangor, Malaysia. Mothers were recruited during the antenatal period and followed up until six months postpartum to document breastfeeding outcomes. Among 652 mothers in our study, exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, and exclusive formula feeding intentions were 49.6%, 46.3%, and 9.0%, respectively. Age, maternal employment, maternal education, parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), breastfeeding attitude, spouse?s preference, grandmother?s preference and breastfeeding experience had significant relationship with breastfeeding intention (p< 0.05). However, further analysis showed that breastfeeding intention was associated with positive breastfeeding attitudes, older age, greater years of education, being housewives, having partner and family support for breastfeeding and grandmothers? breastfeeding experience. These findings suggest that by providing breastfeeding initiatives towards less educated, young mothers who lack breastfeeding support from their loved ones may improve breastfeeding rates.Keywords: Exclusive breastfeeding; Maternal obesity; Breastfeeding intention; Breastfeeding attitudeISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer?review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.