Aims: To assess factors associated with the prevalence of breastfeeding in a cohort of Spanish primiparous pregnant women to whom a health education program was applied.
Methods: Prospective, descriptive, and inferential cohort analysis with data obtained from the beginning of pregnancy to the child's year. Prevalence of breastfeeding was classified into periods or categories: (1) "non-breastfeeding"; (2) "breastfeeding until 6 months"; (3) "breastfeeding up to 12 months". The sample was 288 primiparous pregnant women divided into two groups of equal size using as a matching strategy whether they attended the health education sessions with or without an informal caregiver (mother, partner, sister): group A (primiparous women who attended the sessions without an informal caregiver; n = 144) and group B (primiparous women who attended the sessions with an informal caregiver; n = 144).
Results: The best-associated variables with the prevalence of breastfeeding were age, vitamin B12 variation (postintervention-preintervention), and informal caregiver intervention. This association was statistically significant for breastfeeding up to 12 months of age compared to non-breastfeeding (age (p = 0.007); vitamin B12 variation (p = 0.010); caregiver intervention (p = 0.008)). The younger the breastfeeding woman, the greater the probability of breastfeeding up to 12 months (β: -0.246 (0.91); OR: 0.782 (0.654-0.935)). The greater the increase in vitamin B12 after the educational intervention program, the greater the probability of breastfeeding up to 12 months (β: 0.007 (0.003); OR: 1.007 (1.002-1.012)). The absence of an informal caregiver decreased the likelihood that breastfeeding would be maintained until the child's 12 months (β: -0.734 (1.024); OR: 0.065 (0.009-0.483)).
Conclusions: The prevalence of breastfeeding up to 12 months, in a cohort of Spanish primiparous women, increased the higher increase in vitamin B12 levels after applying an educational intervention program to promote breastfeeding. The prevalence of breastfeeding up to 12 months also increased with the presence of the informal caregiver and in young women.
Keywords: breastfeeding; folic acid; health education; informal caregiver; primiparous pregnant women; prolactin; transferrin; vitamin B12.