Although previous unpublished research has demonstrated low breastfeeding rates among the James Bay Cree of Northern Ontario, the reasons for this are not immediately clear.
A retrospective medical chart review of women who had given birth at the Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory, Ontario in the seven-year period 1997 to 2003 was performed. A variety of demographic variables were documented and overall breastfeeding initiation rates and yearly variations were assessed.
Univariate chi-square analysis of the data indicated that young maternal age (mean=23; p=0.001), maternal smoking (average rate=52.1%; p=0.03), living location (in a small coastal community; p=0.001); and low education status (not completing high school; p