Effect of literacy on breast-feeding outcomes

Background. We studied the effect of functional health literacy on the init iation and continuance of breast-feeding in women at a public health clinic . Methods. Subjects were 61 first-time mothers aged 18 years or older who spo ke English as their first language. They were divided into two groups, one who exclusively breast-fed for at least the first 2 months and one who neve r initiated breast-feeding or did not exclusively breast-feed for at least 2 months. The Rapid Estimate of adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) was admi nistered, providing reading grade-level estimates for each subject. Results. An association between functional health literacy and breast-feedi ng was seen, with only 23% of the women in the lower literacy group exclusi vely breast-feeding during the first 2 months compared with 54% of women in the higher literacy group. Conclusion. Many patients need simpler health education materials encouragi ng breastfeeding. These materials are needed both before and during pregnan cy.