Impact of Personal Social Network Types on Breastfeeding Practices in United States-Born Black and White Women

Background: An individual's personal social network influences behavior; one is more likely to adopt behaviors consistent with norms within the network to avoid social stigma. Personal social network types, which are associated with individual behaviors, have been identified for new mothers: exclusive (kin centric) and expansive (not kin centric). Objective: To analyze the impact of personal social network type on breastfeeding practices in U.S.-born Black and White mothers. Methods: Mothers of infants Results: Of 402 mothers, 67% self-identified as Black and 33% as White. Forty-six percent were exclusively breastfeeding; 26% were mixed breast and formula feeding. The likelihood of exclusively breastfeeding was positively associated with percentage of network members who had breastfed; this association was stronger for mothers with exclusive networks than those with expansive networks (β = 2.74, p β = 1.78, p = 0.03). Black race was positively correlated with exclusive breastfeeding or mixed feeding for mothers with exclusive networks (β = 1.50, p = 0.046; β = 1.86, p = 0.02, respectively). Lower educational level was negatively correlated with exclusive breastfeeding; this correlation was stronger for mothers with exclusive networks (β = -1.91, p = 0.002 versus β = -1.70, p = 0.04). Lower educational level was also negatively correlated with mixed feeding for mothers with exclusive networks (β = -1.61, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Mothers' personal social network type likely moderates the relationship between sociodemographic variables and feeding practices. While the influence of having network members with breastfeeding experience is important, the magnitude of influence is stronger in exclusive networks.