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- Title
Association between migraine and exclusive breastfeeding: A cross‐sectional study.
- Authors
Vyas, Manav V.; Lee, Nathan; Lay, Christine
- Abstract
Background: Medical conditions may preclude a mother from exclusively breastfeeding her infant; however, the association between migraine and the duration of exclusive breastfeeding is not well known. Objective: To evaluate the association between migraine and the duration of exclusive breastfeeding in a representative sample of Canadian females. Methods: We used the Canadian Community Health Survey, a cross‐sectional survey, to identify females aged 20–49 years who delivered a baby in the previous 5 years. History of migraine was self‐reported. Females reported if they breastfed their baby, and among those who did, they further reported the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. We evaluated the association between migraine and the rate of breastfeeding, and the duration of exclusive breastfeeding adjusting for selected covariates. Results: We included 5282 females, of whom 862 (16.3%) had migraine. Compared to females without migraine, females with migraine were less likely to have high income (annual income >$80,000: 362 [42.0] vs. 2276 [51.6]), and more likely to have comorbid mood (176 [20.5] vs. 378 [8.6%]) and anxiety (196 [22.8%] vs. 406 [9.2%]) disorders. Migraine was not associated with breastfeeding (proportion of females who did not breastfeed, migraine vs. no migraine: 114/862 [13.2%] vs. 498/4420 [11.3%]; adjusted odds ratio 1.03; 0.74–1.27); however, females with migraine had lower odds (≥6 months of exclusive breastfeeding: 216/688 [31.4%] vs. 1325/3561 [37.2%]; adjusted odds ratio from ordinal shift analyses 0.84; 0.71–0.99) of longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding than females without migraine. Conclusion: Females with migraine exclusively breastfeed their infants for a shorter duration compared to females without migraine, suggesting the need to better support this population through education on the safety and benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and better access to safe and effective treatment of migraine in lactating females. Plain Language Summary: In a sample of more than 5000 Canadian females, we examined the connection between history of migraine and the length of time females spent exclusively breastfeeding their infants. We found that females with migraine exclusively breastfed their infants for a shorter amount of time compared to females without migraine. It may be possible to increase the duration of exclusive breastfeeding in females with migraine by improving support, education, and access to effective migraine treatment.
- Subjects
BREASTFEEDING; COMMUNITY health services; CROSS-sectional method; CANADIANS; SELF-evaluation; INCOME; LOGISTIC regression analysis; BREAST milk; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; ANXIETY; ODDS ratio; MIGRAINE
- Publication
Headache: The Journal of Head & Face Pain, 2024, Vol 64, Issue 5, p494
- ISSN
0017-8748
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/head.14713