Intent to breast-feed: the impact of attitudes, norms, parity, and experience.

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of breast-feeding attitudes, social norms, and prior experience on predicting breast-feeding intention utilizing the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. METHODS Low-income pregnant women (n = 963) completed a theory-based questionnaire. RESULTS Attitudes were more predictive of breast-feeding intention than were norms, regardless of parity or prior behavior. Among multiparous women, amount of prior breast-feeding experience contributed independently to predicting breast-feeding intention and rendered norms insignificant. CONCLUSION Results support the theories. Breast-feeding promotions targeting low-income women should emphasize enhancing women's personal breast-feeding attitudes, and, among primiparous women, promoting positive breast-feeding attitudes among their significant others.