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Duration of breastfeeding for mothers of twins.

Damato EG, Dowling DA, Madigan EA, Thanattherakul C

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106-4904, USA. egd@case.edu

OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and duration of breastfeeding for mothers of twins and identify factors that affected this duration. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data from a larger longitudinal predictive study of maternal attachment in mothers of twins. SETTING: Paper and pencil questionnaires once during pregnancy and twice in the first 6 months postpartum. PARTICIPANTS: 123 women recruited from a national support group for mothers of twins. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mothers' Information Tool, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Index of Breastfeeding Status. RESULTS: 110 (89.4%) of the sample initiated breastfeeding or initiated a milk supply by pumping. Percentage of breast milk feedings at time 2 predicted whether or not a woman was still breastfeeding at time 3 (odds ratio = 3.63, p < .001). CONCLUSION: A high percentage of breastfeeding initiation was found despite the increased care burden that has been described for mothers of twins. Mothers who continued to breastfeed at time 3 provided a high percentage of the twins' milk feedings as breast milk. The results suggest that mothers who are able to persist with the difficulties of establishing a milk supply for twins and feeding two infants are able to continue providing a high percentage of the infants' feedings as breast milk.

Published 22 March 2005 in J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs, 34(2): 201-9.
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