Objective The purpose of the mixed methods study was to compare barriers and facilitators encountered by low-income African American women who engaged in different infant feeding practices. Methods Using the positive deviance approach and modified Integrated Model as theoretical frameworks, the research began with a qualitative study that informed a survey examining intention, skills, and environmental factors differentiating women’s infant feeding practices. Results Twenty-eight and 190 low-income African American adult women participated in focus groups or interviews and a survey, respectively. In the qualitative study, positive deviants, who breastfed for at least four months, seemed to have stronger breastfeeding intentions, self-efficacy and breastfeeding support than other women. In the final multinomial multiple logistic regression, for a one unit increase in the PBC scale of the revised Breastfeeding Attrition Prediction Tool, there was a 50% (OR 1.5[1.3-1.7]) and an 18% (OR 1.18 [1.03-1.3]) increase in the odds of breastfeeding at least three months (positive deviance) compared to only formula-feeding and breastfeeding for less than three months, respectively. Women who did not smoke postpartum were 4.3 [1.5-12.3] and 5.6 [2.1-15.1] times as likely to be positive deviants; women who had C-sections were 3.6 [1.3-9.6] and 2.9 [1.0-7.8] times as likely to be positive deviants compared to only formula-feeding and breastfeeding for less than three months, respectively. Women who ranked WIC full breastfeeding packages as most valuable were 14.9 [4.8-45.5] and 16.1 [5.3-50.0] times as likely to be positive deviants compared to only formula-feeding and breastfeeding for less than three months, respectively. Discussion High breastfeeding self-efficacy was associated with positive deviance, although the qualitative study findings suggested that general self-efficacy may also influence breastfeeding success. The likelihood of not smoking being associated with longer duration of breastfeeding is consistent with previous research. The C-section results may reflect a longer length of hospital stay leading to increased mastery of breastfeeding prior to discharge. Analysis of participants’ valuation of WIC infant feeding incentives led to the suggestion that WIC incentives be re-examined. Further exploration of these findings and subsequent interventions may lead to improved breastfeeding rates among low-income African American women.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-4646 |
| Date | 01 January 2014 |
| Creators | Barbosa, Cecilia E |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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