Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding of Pregnant Women Who Smoke and Pregnant Women Who Do Not Smoke

Negative fetal effects of maternal smoking are well documented in the literature. Survey data suggests as many as 22% of women may smoke during pregnancy (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). However, few studies have examined the relationship between maternal smoking and breastfeeding. Although Najdawi and Faouri (1999) reported that mothers who smoke compared to mothers who do not smoke tend to choose formula feeding over breastfeeding, little is known about differences between smoking mothers and nonsmoking mothers on their attitudes toward breastfeeding. This investigation examined positive and negative attitudes toward breastfeeding of pregnant women who smoked compared to pregnant women who did not smoke. Also examined were differences between smoking and non-smoking pregnant women and their perceptions of breastfeeding support and breastfeeding confidence. A convenience sample of pregnant women was obtained from three clinics in an eastern state, a community pregnancy resource center, and a vocational nursing school. Four variables (positive attitude, negative attitude, breastfeeding support, and breastfeeding confidence) were operationalized using the subscales of the Breastfeeding Attrition Prediction Tool (BAPT) (Janke, 1994). The four research questions with these four variables as dependent variables were analyzed using independent t-tests. A fifth research question comparing pregnant women who smoke and those who do not smoke on their choice of infant feeding method was analyzed using chi-square