Factors Associated with Provider Counseling Against Breastfeeding in the Setting of Marijuana Use: A Population-Based Survey

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to explore patient demographic factors associated with counseling against breastfeeding and concurrent marijuana use.

Methods

A cross-sectional study derived using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention administered Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in collaboration with state and local health departments. This study sample included survey participants whose responses indicate they received counseling discouraging breastfeeding with concurrent marijuana use. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses assessed the relationship between factors associated with counseling against breastfeeding and concurrent marijuana use.

Results

Of the 10,911 participants in this sample, 9,695 participants who answered the question about receiving counseling discouraging breastfeeding while using marijuana were included in the analysis (89% response rate for the total sample). Twenty nine percent of participants were advised by a provider not to breastfeed while using marijuana. Participants who received this counseling were more likely to be people of color, age less than or equal to 29, with a high school education or less, unmarried, report governmental or no insurance prepregnancy, and report marijuana use postpartum. In the multivariate analysis, age less than or equal to 20 (P = .001), being unmarried (P = .023), and marijuana use postpartum (P = .034) remained associated with counseling against breastfeeding.

Discussion

Our results suggest that individuals are being counseled differently. Unmarried and young people (age <20 years) were more likely to report receiving counseling against breastfeeding with concurrent marijuana use. Given the growing national acceptability of marijuana use, the known benefits of breastfeeding, and the unclear risks of marijuana in human milk, there is a need to standardize counseling to avoid a missed opportunity to educate breastfeeding populations who use marijuana and to reduce the risk of counseling based on providers’ personal attitudes and biases not aligned with evidence-based guidelines.