Table 2 Descriptive statistics and differences between the three countries
|
Australia (n = 641)a N (%) or M ± SD |
Ireland (n = 568)a N (%) or M ± SD |
UK (n = 838)a N (%) or M ± SD | χ2 (df), effect size (Phi or Cramer’s V) | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent variable | ||||||
| Infant feeding mode |
Any BF No BF |
568 (88.6) 73 (11.4) |
402 (70.8) 166 (29.2) |
604 (72.1) 234 (27.9) | 72.5 (2), 0.19 | < 0.001 |
| Independent variables—demographic characteristics | ||||||
| Maternal age | 30 ± 4a | 33 ± 4a,b | 30 ± 4b | < 0.001 | ||
| Parity |
First child Second+ child |
366 (57.2) 274 (42.8) |
252 (44.4) 315 (55.6) |
483 (57.6) 355 (42.4) | 27.9 (2), 0.12 | < 0.001 |
| Education level |
University No university |
406 (63.3) 235 (36.7) |
409 (73.2) 150 (26.8) |
550 (66.6) 276 (33.4) | 13.5 (2), 0.08 | < 0.001 |
| Income (quintiles) |
Lowest to 4th 4th to highest |
283 (46.0) 332 (54.0) |
198 (37.2) 334 (62.8) |
457 (57.3) 340 (42.7) | 53.5 (2), 0.17 | < 0.001 |
| Religiousness |
Yes No |
230 (39.2) 357 (60.8) |
409 (77.0) 122 (23.0) |
298 (37.3) 501 (62.7) | 233.3 (2), 0.35 | < 0.001 |
| Urban living |
Yes (city) No (other) |
335 (52.8) 300 (47.2) |
162 (28.8) 401 (71.2) |
212 (25.3) 625 (74.7) | 132.3 (2), 0.26 | < 0.001 |
| Type of birth |
Vaginal Planned C Emergency C |
445 (69.9) 100 (15.7) 92 (14.4) |
395 (70.3) 86 (15.3) 81 (14.4) |
605 (72.6) 85 (10.2) 143 (17.2) | 13.3 (4), 0.08 | 0.01 |
| Independent variables—feeding-specific variables | ||||||
| Feeding knowledge |
Correct Incorrect |
355 (56.7) 271 (43.3) |
362 (65.9) 187 (34.1) |
583 (71.4) 233 (28.6) | 34.1 (2), 0.13 | < 0.001 |
| Feeding attitudes | 5.41 ± 0.82a | 5.37 ± 0.95 | 5.28 ± 0.97a | 0.023 | ||
| Support level | Group 1 (F&F) | 22.36 ± 7.82a, b | 19.77 ± 8.32a | 19.67 ± 8.28b | < 0.001 | |
| Group 2 (Prof) | 17.78 ± 8.98a, b | 14.75 ± 9.17a, c | 11.81 ± 8.66b, c | < 0.001 | ||
| Group 3 (Tech) | 10.17 ± 6.07a | 9.44 ± 5.73b | 8.13 ± 5.81a, b | < 0.001 | ||
| Fed yourself as a baby | Just breastmilk | 361 (56.6) | 149 (26.2) | 333 (39.9) | 182.3 (8), 0.30 | < 0.001 |
| Mainly BM | 58 (9.1) | 72 (12.7) | 128 (15.3) | |||
| Mainly formula | 69 (10.8) | 43 (7.6) | 80 (9.6) | |||
| Just formula | 116 (18.2) | 286 (50.4) | 266 (31.9) | |||
| Don’t know | 34 (5.3) | 18 (3.2) | 28 (3.4) | |||
| First food | Breastmilk | 594 (93.2) | 484 (85.5) | 741 (88.8) | 19.1 (2), 0.097 | < 0.001, |
| Formula | 43 (6.8) | 82 (14.5) | 93 (11.2) | |||
| Skin-to-skin contact to find breast | Yes | 484 (75.9) | 401 (71.6) | 606 (72.4) | 9.0 (4), 0.07 | 0.061 |
| No | 139 (21.8) | 129 (23.0) | 201 (24.0) | |||
| Don’t know | 15 (2.4) | 30 (5.4) | 30 (3.6) | |||
| Encouraged by professional | Immediately/ within few mins | 281 (44.7) | 243 (43.2) | 268 (32.2) | 82.1 (12), 0.20 | < 0.001 |
| >few mins to 30mins | 145 (23.1) | 101 (17.9) | 193 (23.2) | |||
| >30mins to 1 h | 84 (13.4) | 47 (8.3) | 104 (12.5) | |||
| > 1 h to 2 h | 43 (6.8) | 34 (6.0) | 60 (7.2) | |||
| > 2 h to 24 h | 40 (6.4) | 35 (6.2) | 56 (6.7) | |||
| Not encouraged | 22 (3.5) | 81 (14.4) | 124 (14.9) | |||
| Don’t know | 14 (2.2) | 22 (3.9) | 27 (3.2) | |||
| Feeding plan | BF | 590 (92.2) | 451 (79.7) | 675 (80.5) | 58.5 (6), 0.17 | < 0.001 |
| FF | 18 (2.8) | 58 (10.2) | 61 (7.3) | |||
| Combo | 19 (3.0) | 29 (5.1) | 69 (8.2) | |||
| Not decided | 13 (2.0) | 28 (4.9) | 33 (3.9) | |||
| Feeding information |
Breastfeeding Yes No |
568 (89.4) 67 (10.6) |
463 (82.1) 101 (17.9) |
677 (81.3) 156 (18.7) | 20.2 (2), 0.10 | < 0.001 |
|
Formula feeding Yes No |
342 (56.6) 262 (43.4) |
403 (76.9) 121 (23.1) |
478 (60.1) 318 (39.9) | 57.1 (2), 0.17 | < 0.001 | |