OBJECTIVE: To determine demographic factors associated with a priori maternal preference for infant feeding. DESIGN: Demographic and infant feeding data for all inborns were collected prospectively at a military tertiary care facility. Our sample was limited to liveborns who received exclusively Level I nursery care. Mothers' feeding intentions were recorded prior to delivery. Two logistic outcomes(breastfeeding and formula feeding) were each evaluated with a forward stepwise multiple regression technique. RESULTS: During a 10 month period 1138 infants were analyzed. Preferences were 69.7% breastfeeding, 24.2% formula feeding and 6.2% both. Factors found related to the choice to formula feed were lower educational level for the mother, shorter gestation, later first obstetric appointment, lower sponsor's military rank, the family member prefixes of both the newborn and his/her mother (categorical values based upon the number of children and dependent status), mother's martial status, and sponsor's military status (active duty or retired). For the outcome breastfeeding, first obstetrical appointment and marital status were not significant; however, maternal ethnicity was. CONCLUSIONS: With the exception of gestation length and time of first obstetrical appointment, all of these factors are available early in pregnancy. Social, economic, and educational factors dominate. Nonetheless, each of these factors reflects an independent contribution with the contribution of other factors adequately controlled. Other factors examined, such as maternal age and adequacy of prenatal care, were found to be non-significant in the multiple logistic regression analyses. This modeling could direct additional educational and support strategies for mothers and their feeding decisions. Through such strategies, breastfeeding rates might be improved.Table

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