RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access

Evaluation of the impact of breast milk expression in early postpartum period on breastfeeding duration: a prospective cohort study Beiqi Jiang1, Jing Hua1, Yijing Wang1, Yun Fu1, Zhigang Zhuang1 and Liping Zhu1,2* Background: Breast milk expression (breast pumping) has become prevalent as an important dimension of breastfeeding behavior. It is, however, not clear whether increasing breast milk expression contributes to extend the duration of breastfeeding. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of breast milk expression in early postpartum period on breastfeeding duration amongst mothers of healthy term infants. Methods: A prospective cohort study had been conducted from March to June 2010. Mothers who gave birth to healthy, full-term and singleton babies were enrolled at discharge. These women were interviewed at 6 weeks postpartum about their breastfeeding behaviors. According to expressing patterns at 6 week postpartum, women were divided into three groups: direct breastfeeding (group 1), combining direct breastfeeding with expressing (group 2), exclusive expressing (group 3). The investigators followed up the women by telephone thereafter at