Demographic and Clinical Indicators Associated with Meeting Recommendations For Infant Feeding in Rural Communities

Mother’s breast milk is considered “liquid gold” providing essential nourishment for growth in all areas including cognitive and motor functions that benefits both the mother and infant. The optimal way to feed infants is exclusively breastfeeding a minimum of six months introducing only breast milk. Women in rural counties have significantly lower rates of exclusive breastfeeding compared to those located in urban settings. The team conducted a pilot study in Rural Kittatas County, Washington using an original survey instrument to determine differences in exclusive breastfeeding rates. For the purpose of this pilot study, the defined dependent variable was whether or not the mother reported her infant received breastmilk exclusively during the first six months of life. Independent variables included household income, age of infant the mother returned to work, gestational age, household size, race/ethnicity, length of leave, unpaid leave, maternal age and spoken language. We collected patients’ self-reported information on the type of delivery, employer policies pertaining to breastfeeding break time, or if the employer provided a breastfeeding space. A total of 25 women responded to the survey, with n=8 providing complete responses for analysis. We concluded significance with exclusive breastfeeding between household income and household side-based on the Qualtrics survey software with a p-value of 0.0175 and 0.03, respectfully. Limitations indicate the data skewed toward mostly white, highly educated middle-income families and the sample of n=8 is considerably small. These findings are an important step toward scaling efforts to understand correlates of exclusive breastfeeding in rural communities