The Experience and Determinants of First-Time Breast-Feeding Duration among Low-Income Women from Sao Paulo, Brazil

Rudzik, Alanna EF

Abstract

While the ability to breast-feed is virtually universal among women, the experience of breast-feeding is particular to each woman and is influenced by her social, economic, and personal circumstances. This paper explores quantitative and experience-focused ethnographic data on the experiences of low-income women from the eastern periphery of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, who were breast-feeding for the first time. The prospective, longitudinal data collection method involved repeated in-depth interviews with a group of 65 women, from the end of pregnancy through the first 12 weeks postpartum. Multivariate statistical analyses of the quantitative data revealed that older age, lower interpersonal satisfaction, and unplanned pregnancy shortened the period of exclusive breast-feeding and increased women’s likelihood of having begun supplementation by 12 weeks postpartum. Ethnographic data analysis exposed the meanings of breast-feeding and motherhood for women who had experienced unplanned pregnancy and helped to shed light on the dramatic influence of unplanned pregnancy on women’s breast-feeding practice.

Citation

Rudzik, A. E. (2012). The Experience and Determinants of First-Time Breast-Feeding Duration among Low-Income Women from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Current Anthropology, 53(1), 108-117. https://doi.org/10.1086/663693

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: Apr 12, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2012
• Journal: Current Anthropology
• Print ISSN: 0011-3204
• Electronic ISSN: 1537-5382
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 108-117
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/663693
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1508176