Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

Ethnicity and Breastfeeding
Data were extracted from 7 studies, including 7 prospective cohort studies and 1crosssectional
study. All studies were from Australia with the exception of one New Zealand and
one Chinese cohort study. The New Zealand cohort study reported no association between
ethnicity and breastfeeding at discharge or at 6 weeks. The Chinese cohort study reported that
the ethnic minority groups were less likely to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding before 6
months than the ethnic majority group. One Australian cohort study reported that Australian
women were more likely to initiate breastfeeding and second reported they were more likely
to be discharged form hospital exclusively breastfeeding than women from other ethnic
groups. Three Australian cohort studies reported no association between ethnicity and
breastfeeding duration. Only the one Australian cross-sectional study reported that Australian
women were less likely to be breastfeeding at the time of the study than women from other
ethnic groups.
There is insufficient evidence to make a formal evidence statement on ethnicity and
breastfeeding in Australia. There appears to be no association between ethnicity and
breastfeeding duration. While Australian women may be more likely to initiate breastfeeding
or leave hospital fully breastfeeding, most Australian studies grouped women from all other
countries together and compared against Australian born women, making it impossible to
identify particular ethnic groups with breastfeeding initiation and duration rates different
from Australian women.
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