ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the association between maternal ethnicity and breastfeeding initiation (child ever fed breastmilk) and duration (child breastfed for at least 6 months) in Suriname.
Methods: Mothers of 6-11 months old infants who attended the Regional Health Service clinics in Paramaribo for routine well-baby care services were invited to participate during a period of eight weeks. Information about breastfeeding initiation and duration, maternal and child characteristics were obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression models were applied to examine independent associations with never breastfeeding and breastfeeding less than 6 months.
Results: Maroon mothers had the highest proportions of ever breastfeeding (99%) and breastfeeding for at least 6 months (77%), while Hindustani mothers had the lowest (90% and 27%, respectively). Javanese mothers had the second highest proportion of ever breastfeeding (98%), but the second lowest proportion of breastfeeding for at least 6 months (50%). Compared with Maroon mothers, Hindustani, Creole and mothers with mixed ethnicity had significantly higher odds of never breastfeeding, while Hindustani, Javanese and Creole mothers had significantly higher odds for breastfeeding less than 6 months.
Conclusion: Wide maternal ethnic variations in breastfeeding initiation and duration exist in Suriname. Other maternal or child factors do not account for the observed variations. These may reflect cultural norms and should be further explored.
Manuscripts that are Published Ahead of Print have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by the Editorial Board of the West Indian Medical Journal. They may appear in their original format and may not be copy edited or formatted in the style guide of this Journal. While accepted manuscripts are not yet assigned a volume, issue or page numbers, they can be cited using the DOI and date of e-publication. See our Instructions for Authors on how to properly cite manuscripts at this stage. The contents of the manuscript may change before it is published in its final form. Manuscripts in this section will be removed once they have been issued to a volume and issue, but will still retain the DOI and date of e-publication.
Our 7 faculties and 12 professional schools offer more than 200 programmes to some 18,000 graduate, undergraduate and continuing studies students.
The UWI, Mona ranks first in Jamaica among accredited tertiary-level programmes. In 2012, the University was again one of Jamaica’s Top 100 Employers.
