Understanding Why Women With Obesity Don't Breastfeed

Prior research had found that obese women are less likely to start breastfeeding (82.2% vs 86.4%) and less likely to breastfeed for at least 6 months (44.4% vs 53.8% in a 2014 study).

As the number of women who are clinically obese rises, there are public health concerns that fewer newborns will be breastfed, and those that are will be breastfed for shorter intervals. Of note, breastfeeding aids in postpartum weight loss, which would be particularly important for this group. The researchers wanted to know which factors went into decisions to breastfeed or to quit breastfeeding.

Two themes emerged from the interviews: (1) “personal control over breastfeeding behavior,” and (2) “realistic expectations of the breastfeeding journey.”