Breastfeeding Intention Among Pregnant Hong Kong Chinese Women

This study set out to (1) estimate the prevalence of three forms of feeding intention among 2,178 pregnant women in six of Hong Kong’s regional hospitals and (2) identify the associated demographic, socioeconomic, obstetric and relational correlates. The research design was exploratory, cross-sectional, and quantitative. The Chinese version of a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the demographic, socio-economic, and obstetric characteristics of the women. Couples’ relationships were investigated using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. All women in the second trimester of their pregnancies who attended the target antenatal clinics within the data collection period of December 2004 to December 2006 were recruited. The prevalence rates of breastfeeding, mixed feeding and artificial feeding were 53.9%, 14.8%, and 31.3%, respectively. Women who had been born in Hong Kong, lived in accommodation that was ≥300 feet² (~30 m²), had made an early antenatal booking, had a planned pregnancy, were experiencing their first pregnancy, and had a lower level of conflict with their partners were significantly more likely to opt for breastfeeding. Women who had been born in Hong Kong and already had children were significantly more likely to choose mixed feeding, compared with the artificial group in a multinomial logistic regression model. These findings suggest that effective promotion of breastfeeding during the prenatal period must target the correlates of feeding intention.