Are women with an unintended pregnancy less likely to breastfeed?

Conclusions

Our study has clinical implications for first-time US mothers. A recent national goal of the Institute of Medicine is that all pregnancies be planned.³ One of the many benefits of decreasing unintended pregnancy may be to increase breastfeeding rates closer to the Healthy People 2010 goals. In addition, a new hypothesis is suggested by the results of this study: Clinicians should promote breastfeeding differently for women with intended and unintended pregnancies. Future research will evaluate the importance of incorporating pregnancy intention status into patient-centered counseling. In the interim, women with unwanted pregnancies, especially white women, should be targeted for counseling, as they could benefit from breastfeeding, not just for medical reasons but for psychological and economic ones as well.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Larry Culpepper, MD, MPH, for his guidance.