Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

Maternal age and breastfeeding
There is an association between breastfeeding and maternal age - older mothers are more
likely to breastfeed. Mothers under 20 years less likely to breastfeed.
Data were extracted from 16 studies, including 15 prospective cohort studies, 1 retrospective
cohort study. Data from 16 publications were used to form the final body of evidence
statement, which included 9 studies of Australian women, 4 studies of Chinese women and 3
studies from the UK. One study from New Zealand was not included in the final analysis due
to insufficient information. Sufficient evidence was found to make statements on the
relationship between maternal age and breastfeeding outcomes for Australia and China.
Breastfeeding outcomes investigated included breastfeeding initiation/ at discharge and
breastfeeding duration.
What is the association between maternal age and breastfeeding outcomes?
Evidence statement
Younger maternal age, particularly less than 20 yrs, may be
negatively associated with both the initiation of
breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration.
Draft Grade
B
Component Rating Notes
Evidence Base Good 14 cohort studies (13P, 1 N),
Consistency Good For Chinese mothers all of the studies found an association
with initiation and 3 of 4 with duration.
For Australian mothers 5 studies found an association
between initiation and age and 6 studies found an association
with duration.
Clinical impact Good There was a consistent association
Generalisability Excellent All studies involved either Australian women or women
from relevant population sub-groups
Applicability Satisfactory Studies of Chinese women may not be directly relevant to
the Australian healthcare context
Studies of women from Australia were considered separate to those of Chinese women.
Four cohort studies involving Chinese women reported a negative association between
younger maternal age and the initiation of breastfeeding while. Three cohort studies reported
that older Chinese women more likely to have a longer breastfeeding duration and one study
found no difference.
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