Infant feeding attitude and infant feeding methods among Macao hospital postpartum women

Objective: To study infant-feeding attitude and feeding methods among Macao postpartum women in hospital. Methods: From December 2009 to December 2011, Postpartum women (n = 468) were recruited in a cross sectional study in Macau. The participants completed a questionnaire on infant feeding at postpartum 3 days before discharge. The questionnaires included demographic, infant feeding methods and the Macau Chinese version of IIFAS scale. The intra-class correlations (ICC) of the Macau Chinese version of IIFAS scale was 0.85, Cronbach's alpha was 0.635, and the content validity index (CVI) was 0.966. The IIFAS comprises of 17 items. Total scores range from 17 (indicating positive bottle-feeding attitudes) to a high of 85 (indicating positive breastfeeding attitudes).Results: The mean score of IIFAS was 58.94±6.21 at 3 days postpartum. The mean score of 17 items were range from 2.25±1.20 to 4.54±1.01. The item with higher score from first to third were: Item 3 ,Breast-feeding increased mother-infant bonding(4.54±1.01); item 13, Breast milk more easily digested(4.45±0.94); item 12,Breast milk is a kind of ideal food(4.37±0.97). The item with lower score were: Item17,Mother occasionally drinks alcohol should not breast-feed(2.25±1.20); item 6 ,Formula-feeding is the better choice for a mother who plans to work(2.40±1.19); item 8, Public places (such as restaurants) should not breast-feed( 2.80±1.23). At 1 days and 3 days postpartum, the exclusive breastfeeding rate were 52.8% and 52.4%, which were higher than mix feeding rate (37.4%, 40.6%), also higher than exclusive formula-feeding rate ( 9.8%,7.0%),p<0.05. The exclusive formula-feeding rate was no significant difference compare postpartum 1 day with postpartum 3 days>0.05. Women who were exclusively breastfeeding at 1 days and 3 days postpartum had significantly higher IIFAS scores than mothers who were either mix feeding or exclusive formula-feeding (P<0.01). Conclusions: The score of IIFAS of Macao postpartum women were at a medium level. Higher IIFAS scores were associated with breastfeeding behavior, while lower scores were associated with formula-feeding behavior. The early breastfeeding rate among Macao postpartum women was higher than Mainland China but lower than some Western country.