Health Inequities in Manitoba: Is the Socioeconomic Gap

Health Inequities in Manitoba: Is the Socioeconomic Gap in Health Widening or Narrowing Over Time?
Breastfeeding Initiation Rates
Definition
This indicates whether or not a newborn was breastfeeding upon discharge from the hospital. It is
calculated for any live born newborn hospitalization (newborn hospitalizations are defined with ICD–9–
CM codes V30 to V39) by using the hospital discharge abstract with its field indicating whether a baby
was being breastfed (either partial or exclusive breastfeeding) or not at discharge. This is the average
annual percentage of live newborns who initiated breastfeeding.
Note that only breastfeeding initiation (as defined by newborn breastfeeding) is available for the entire
population of Manitoba. Breastfeeding duration information is not available in the Repository housed
at MCHP, but only through national surveys which are samples (not the whole population) and exclude
on–reserve First Nations populations.
Time Periods Average annual percentage of newborns
T1: 1987/88–1989/90 72.50
T2: 1990/91–1992/93 73.00
T3: 1993/94–1995/96 77.89
T4: 1996/97–1998/99 80.19
T5: 1999/00–2001/02 81.65
T6: 2002/03–2004/05 81.84
T7: 2005/06–2007/08 80.13
Key findings: Breastfeeding Initiation Rates
Manitoba overall rates:
From the first time period T1 (1987/88–1989/90) to the last time period T7 (2005/06–2007/08),
breastfeeding initiation rates increased from 72.5% to 80.1% provincially.
Rates by neighbourhood income quintile over time:
Rural:
• From T1 to T7, the breastfeeding initiation rates of rural neighbourhood income quintile groups R3
to R5 increased steadily, whereas the breastfeeding initiation rate of the lowest rural neighbourhood
income quintile R1 plateaued. R2 appeared to increase initially, and then plateau from 1999 onward.
• The disparity between R1 and R5 increased substantially. The rate ratio of R1 compared to R5
was 0.82 in the first time period and 0.71 in the last time period, indicating that the lowest
neighbourhood income group has statistically lower relative rates (13% lower) in the second time
period. The absolute difference gap of PMR comparing R1 to R5 statistically significantly increased by
86% over time, from around 14 per 100 fewer breastfed children in the first time period to around 26
per 100 fewer breastfed children in the last time period.
Urban:
• From T1 to T7, the breastfeeding initiation rates of urban neighbourhood income quintile groups U1
to U5 increased steadily.
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy 71