Results
A total of 229 eligible women were approached to participate in the
BLIiNG study, with 227 women consenting to participate. Of the
consenting women, 210 met all eligibility criteria and provided answers
for breastfeeding intensity, with 209 women specifying length of
breastfeeding. There were 210 women who had OGTT results available for
their second pregnancy, 146 (70%) of these women were diagnosed with
recurrent GDM. Most women were born overseas with 39 (19%) born in
Australia. The majority of self-identified ethnicity was stated as South
Asian (52%), with Caucasian the next most frequently identified group
(16%). Demographics were similar between women diagnosed with GDM or in
the non-GDM group, except for obesity, which was greater in the women
with recurrent GDM (26% vs 13%, P = 0.03) (Table 1).
All women in their first pregnancy commenced breastfeeding, with 117
(56%) breastfeeding longer than six months and 43 (20%) breastfeeding
for less than three months. For the total cohort, 49 (23%) women had
low intensity BLISS score (0–6) and 36 (73%) of these women breastfed
for less than three months (Table 2). The most common reason women gave
for stopping breastfeeding was “I didn’t think I had enough milk”
(34%).