Abstract:
Anecdotally, concerns are often expressed about tbe varying infant feeding decisions
among women from different cultural groups. This paper reports the early infant feeding
decisions and duration of breastfeeding in 986 women from English, Chinese and Arabic speaking
backgrounds in Sydney during 1997 and 1998. Data were collected from an audit
of medical records and through a questionnaire at eight weeks postpartum. Chinese speaking
women were less likely to express an intention to breastfeed and fewer initiated
breastfeeding compared with other women, Arabic-speaking women had significantly
longer duration rates compared with other women. A greater proportion of the Chinese speaking
women who initiated breastfeeding were still breastfeeding at eight weeks
compared with English-speaking women. This study suggests that there are differences in
the infant feeding decisions between English, Arabic and Chinese-speaking women.
Clinicians need to further understand cultural differences when providing care, education
and support in a multicultural context.
