Breastfeeding of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander infants from a small rural cohort in Australia.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended during an infant's first six months of life as it is the optimal way to meet the infants nutritional needs. The aim of this study was to describe the breastfeeding intentions and practices of mothers carrying First Nations babies in the Gomeroi Gaaynggal longitudinal cohort.

Methods: This study uses a subset of data from participants recruited between 2010-2018. Mothers carrying First Nations babies were recruited to the study at any stage during pregnancy (N = 425) at the Tamworth Rural Referral Hospital by First Nations research assistants. Breastfeeding intentions and previous pregnancy history data were obtained from participant survey and/or hospital antenatal records (n = 246). Infant breastfeeding details were obtained from mothers who agreed to participate in the follow-up study (n = 131/182) using participant surveys at approximately 3-, 6-, 9-, 12- and 24-months.

Results: Most of the mothers (72.8%; 179/246) indicated an intention to breastfeed their infants exclusively after birth. Most infants (83.9%; 104/124) received some form of breast milk (either directly from the breast or as expressed breast milk). The median breastfeeding duration of infants in this study was 35 days/5 weeks (IQR: 14-150 days/2-21.4 weeks). 35.8% (19/53) of mothers reported having trouble with breastfeeding.

Conclusions: Findings from this study show that breastfeeding initiation rates are similar to those reported for First Nations people living in non-remote areas of Australia. Further investigations are required to identify factors contributing to the short breastfeeding duration observed in this cohort.