Anxiety and depressive thoughts can lead breastfeeding women to worry about whether their baby is eating enough. They are likely to stop breastfeeding or supplement their own milk with infant formula or baby porridge. New results from the Mother and Child Cohort Study at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health indicate that personality traits can affect breastfeeding habits.

Researchers analysed data from nearly 28 000 women who completed questionnaires during pregnancy and six months post-partum.

One in seven exclusively breastfeeds

Norwegian health authorities recommend that babies are breastfed exclusively until six months old. However, the study shows that only 15 percent of mothers, or just one in seven, solely breastfed for so long. Amongst the participants, 85 percent still breastfed at six months - 15 percent of these only gave breast milk whilst the others supplemented with infant formula or porridge. The remaining 15 percent had ceased to breastfeed.

Affected by worries

Negative feelings and personality traits had an obvious effect on breastfeeding. Anxious women who had little confidence in their breastfeeding ability appeared to do so less than other women in the cohort. This conclusion was drawn from responses about negative feelings such as anxiety, self-confidence and melancholy. A high score for anxiety gave a 30 percent increased chance…