Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1
Sociodemographic and practice-related characteristics of the study sample (N = 89)*
VARIABLE RESPONDENTS N (%) SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Age • 40 y or younger 37 (41.6) • Older than 40 y 52 (58.4) Decade of graduation • 1980 or later 62 (69.7) • 1979 or earlier 27 (30.3) Income • Less than $100 000 20 (23.0) • $100 000 to $150 000 38 (43.7) • More than $150 000 29 (33.3) Parental leave taken • Yes 84 (95.5) • No 4 (4.5) Duration of breastfeeding • 6 mo or less† 40 (45.5) • 7 mo or more 48 (54.5) Partner’s hours worked • Full-time (≥40 h/wk) 65 (84.4) • Part-time (<40 h/wk) 12 (15.6) PRACTICE-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS Specialty • Specialists 31 (34.8) • Family doctors 58 (65.2) Leave benefits • No parental leave benefits 58 (65.2) • Parental leave benefits 31 (34.8) Hours worked • Full-time (≥40 h/wk) 71 (79.8) • Part-time (<40 h/wk) 18 (20.2) Location of work • Urban practice 63 (70.8) • Rural practice 26 (29.2) Type of practice • Solo practice 15 (18.8) • Group practice 65 (81.3) Type of remuneration • Fee-for-service 60 (69.0) • Salaried 27 (31.0) - Table 2
Effect of sociodemographic and practice-related variables on breastfeeding duration (N = 88*)
VARIABLE BREASTFED6 MO OR LESS N (%) BREASTFED7 MO OR MORE N (%) P VALUE SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES Age • 40 y or younger 13 (36.1) 23 (63.9) NS • Older than 40 y 27 (51.9) 25 (48.1) Decade of graduation • 1980 or later 22 (36.1) 39 (63.9) .008 • 1979 or earlier 18 (66.7) 9 (33.3) Income • Less than $100 000 5 (25.0) 15 (75.0) NS • $100 000 to $150 000 20 (52.6) 18 (47.4) • More than $150 000 14 (50.0) 14 (50.0) Parental leave taken • Yes 36 (43.4) 47 (56.6) NS • No 3 (75.0) 1 (25.0) Partner’s hours worked • Full-time (≥40 h/wk) 32 (49.2) 33 (50.8) .037 • Part-time (<40 h/wk) 2 (16.7) 10 (83.3) PRACTICE-RELATED VARIABLES Specialty • Specialists 20 (66.7) 10 (33.3) .004 • Family doctors 20 (34.5) 38 (65.5) Leave benefits • No parental leave benefits 23 (39.7) 35 (60.3) NS • Parental leave benefits 17 (56.7) 13 (43.3) Hours worked • Full-time (≥40 h/wk) 35 (50.0) 35 (50.0) NS • Part-time (<40 h/wk) 5 (27.8) 13 (72.2) Location of work • Urban practice 32 (51.6) 30 (48.4) NS • Rural practice 8 (30.8) 18 (69.2) Type of practice • Solo practice 8 (53.3) 7 (46.7) NS • Group practice 27 (42.2) 37 (57.8) Type of remuneration • Fee-for-service 25 (41.7) 35 (58.3) NS • Salaried 14 (53.8) 12 (46.2) NS—non-significant.
↵* One respondent was breastfeeding her first child at the time of the survey so was not included in the analysis of duration of breastfeeding.
- Table 3
Multiple logistic regression analysis predicting whether female physicians breastfed their babies for 7 months or more (N = 88)
VARIABLE ODDS RATIO 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL P VALUE Graduation year 1979 or earlier(Reference category)
1980 or later
3.28 1.08–9.99 .037 Specialty Specialist(Reference category)
Family doctor
2.23 0.78–6.37 .135 Partner’s hours worked Full-time (≥40 h/wk) (Reference category)
Part-time (<40 h/wk)
3.49 0.66–18.31 .140 Personal issues (51%) ”Maternal health and birth complications”
”Time constraints”
”Another pregnancy”
”Weight loss”
”Fatigue”
”Personal choice”
”Twins”
”Pressure to stop by parents and in-laws”
”Sharps injury”
”Father sharing feeding”
”Milk supply decreased when back to work”
”Timing was right to end”
”On medication not compatible with breastfeeding”
”Tired of being ‘tied up’”
”Burden of other child care”
Baby issues (38%) “Baby losing interest”
”Feeding problems”
”Baby biting”
”Baby ill or hospitalized”
”Other child starting school”
”Not enough milk”
“Baby older”
”Chronic mastitis”
”Colicky baby”
Practice issues (33%) ”Return to work”
“Heavy call commitments”
”No flexibility at work to allow breastfeeding”
”Felt pressure from colleagues and patients to return to work”
Medical school and residency issues (4%) ”Baby born 6 weeks before [Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons fellowship examination]”
”Too stressed in medical school”
”In university full-time”
Societal issues (1%) ”Societal pressure”
